The PennySheldon Relationship Paradigm
by CSI Ames
Summary: A collection of Penny/Sheldon fan fics, hopefully not all of them are fluff. All song based. Can't really give a good summary when all of them will be different! You're just gonna have to read it, hope you like it!
1. Electrical Storm

_**Heya guys. I'm continuing with tradition and writing song based fan fics. BUT over my holidays sabbatical, I decided to put all my Penny/Sheldon obsessed fan fics in the same fic to save you guys the hassle, so you can just subscribe to the one. Easy! **_

_**Anyways, I was having trouble with this one, so it's only the one verse. I'm thinking that some of them are going to start being inspired by just one or two verses. Getting harder to pick awesome songs! **_

_**Anyways, as usual, if you guys are listening to the radio, ipod or tv and hear a good song, send me a buzz and let me know so I can get a copy and try to write an awesome fic. It would be great if I could write some fics especially for you guys. **___

**AN: **I don't own the song or any characters.

"_Electrical Storm" by U2_

_Car alarm won't let ya back to sleep  
You're kept awake dreaming someone else's dream  
Coffee is cold, but it'll get you through  
Compromise, that's nothing new to you _

Penny was startled awake by the sound of the car alarm on the street below. Yawning, she stretched her arms above her head. She looked down at the textbook in front of her that had been her pillow for the last hour and a half. She groaned as she flicked through the pages and saw how many she had left. She was going to be here for hours. But it would be worth it just to see Sheldon's face. She reached out for the coffee cup in front of her and could feel it was cold, but it would just have to do. The caffeine alone should be enough to wake her up enough to finish cramming for this exam.

It hadn't been her idea. It had been Leonard's. She wasn't sure what had convinced her in the first place, but taking Sheldon's class was a good way to show him that she wasn't just a community college drop out. And maybe, if she could convince him that she was smart enough, he might begin to take her a little more seriously... And possibly even begin to like her back the way she was interested in him.

She shook her head and leant against her hands. This whole plan would fail if she couldn't pass the final. Leonard had helped her enrol under a different name and she had been able so far to use that alias to do her assignments online. But the exam called for her to be present in the class. She would have to show her face to Sheldon as Jennifer Connelly, the amazingly cognitive student who Sheldon was full of praise for on her returned papers.

She yawned again and stared at the page, willing the theories on monopoles to infiltrate her mind. She needed to understand. She needed to know this. But somehow, she couldn't concentrate. She was so nervous about the idea of, in a little under 5 hours, showing her face to Sheldon. She, who was his little protégé.

A small knock on the door startled her out of her reverie. She crossed the room and opened the door to find Leonard standing there, a hot cup of coffee and a croissant in his hand.

"I thought I could bring you some breakfast. Figured you would need it for the big day."

Penny smiled appreciatively. She and Leonard may have broken up a few months ago, but it wasn't awkward. It was nice to be able to slip back into that friendship without any consequences.

But she wasn't sure how he would take the idea of her being interested in Sheldon, so she kept that to herself.

"Sure, come in." She invited. "I was just realising how much I actually have to learn. I don't know if I'm going to finish in time." She panicked.

"Well, what are friends for?" Leonard smiled.

_  
* * *_

Penny was panicking as she sat down in front of the test paper. Sheldon hadn't arrived yet. She began writing her alias name on the top of the paper and tried to remember to breathe properly.

Suddenly, she heard the voice that was all too familiar to her.

"Hello students." He stood at the microphone in the front of the hall and cleared his throat. Penny was lost at the back of the hall and knew that he wouldn't be able to see her from all the way back there.

"Today we are obviously having the final for this unit. And as one of the best Professors in this university, I must ask that you not fail and tarnish my reputation."

Nervously, someone laughed in the back of the hall. Penny sighed; they obviously didn't think he was serious.

"Now, you have three hours, please mark all of your working on the sheet- in logical orders please- and I expect at least 5 pages for the final essay, as it is a rather easy topic."

Penny flicked through to the final question and smiled. Easy, huh?

"You may begin."

A large amount of rustling could be heard as all of the students opened their test booklets to the first page and began scribbling down answers. Penny meanwhile, sat there for a strategic few minutes before she nervously raised her hand. Down the front of the class, Sheldon saw a student raise their hand and he sighed. If they didn't get the questions at the front of the booklet, they were never going to get the ones at the end.

Climbing the stairs to the top of the lecture hall, he stopped when he saw who was sitting there. Penny was staring directly at him, her hand still raised in the air.

"What are you doing here?" He whispered, looking around at the other students.

"I'm taking my exam." She answered. "But my pencil broke. You don't happen to have another one?"

Sheldon slowly reached into his pocket and withdrew a perfectly sharpened pencil. As he placed it on the desk, he flipped over the front cover of Penny's booklet and saw the name printed so neatly in the space.

"No." He whispered.

"Oh, yes." Penny replied, smugly. "I'm your little protégé."


	2. Forever

_Forever" by Breaking Benjamin_

**AN: **I don't own the song. Obviously or I would be rich by now.

_Do you know that I could never leave you?  
And you know I could never beat you?_

Penny sighed as she opened her eyes. The morning beyond the window beckoned with glorious sunlight and although she could feel it was a beautiful warm spring morning outside, all she wanted to do was lie here forever, in the arms of the man that last night had become hers. All hers, forever.

_In a fight, I could never fight you, nevermind, I will not forget you.  
Can I stay alive forever?  
Can I stay alive forever?  
Can I stay alive forever?_

She had tried to avoid it since longer than she could remember. Forever, it seemed like. But eventually she had to acknowledge the feelings- the mutual feelings- that everyone except he and her had noticed. When she told him, she noticed the fight going on in his mind. So similar to the one raging within her.

When she leant over to kiss him, she could feel the battle swinging in his mind. A kind of calming presence over the never ending analysis of the world around him. She was his full attention and the centre of his world for that brief moment before he pulled away and she could see his mind working over and over, faster than she had ever seen.

_Forever. Can you feel a chemical reaction?  
Because I feel a hideous  
Attraction could we share a poison apple?  
Could it be maniacal and awful_

Beside her, Sheldon Cooper stirred in his sleep but did not wake. Penny adjusted herself ever so slowly so that she was resting on his chest hearing his heartbeat. It was slow and steady, just like hers. A testament to how content she was just lying here with him.

Forever.

But she knew, eventually they would wake and realise what they had done. How far in they were and yet how far they had to go. Their acceptance was one thing, the others was another. But she knew that she could deal with that when they came to it. They had to. She hadn't waited this long for this moment only to have it taken from her in a split second of rationality.

Sheldon Cooper was hers.

Forever.

_Can I stay alive forever?  
Can I stay alive forever?  
Can I stay alive forever?  
Forever. forever  
Stay alive forever  
Forever  
Stay alive forever  
Stay alive forever  
Stay alive forever  
Stay alive forever  
Stay alive forever_


	3. No One's Gonna Love You

**And we're up to chapter 3 in 2 days! I just can't seem to stop. Haha. **

**Anyways, this one is based off a verse, bridge and chorus in the song "No One's Gonna Love You" By Band of Horses. Great song. As always, I encourage you to take a listen. **

**AN: Don't own the song or the characters, sadly. **

_Anything to make you smile  
You are the ever-living ghost of what once was  
I never want to hear you say  
That you'd be better off  
Or you liked it that way_

It was unusual the day that Penny left Sheldon before he woke up. It was even more unusual when it happened again the next day. And the one after that.

It was unusual when Penny excused herself from eating with them on Thai night. It was even more unusual on Thursday's pizza night.

When she failed to show at Halo night, Sheldon knew something was wrong. In the entire 6 months he had been involved romantically with Penny, and the preceding two years of friendship before that, she had never failed to show at dinner unless she was working and she always woke Sheldon if she had to leave before he was awake.

But something was wrong and he was deeply worried about what it was.

He took his opportunity on Friday's Vintage Video Game night to voice his opinion to people who he knew (begrudgingly it was true), were more socially apt than he was.

"If you're in a romantic relationship," He hedged, pausing the game with his avatar mid jump. "Is it a sign of imminent failure if you don't see your partner for numerous days?"

"I wouldn't worry." Said Wolowitz as he rose to the refrigerator and took out a can of Coke. "She's still coming here to spend the night with you. She can't hate you that much."

"Unless she's only using him for one thing." Winked Raj.

"No, I would hear that." Leonard laughed. "Every time they do anything like that, Sheldon starts listing all the Marvel comic book heroes until Penny begs him to shut up."

"Yeah, what is with that dude?" Raj interjected.

"Anyway," Sheldon stated loudly. "You're not helping me. I... I need help."

Leonard's neck almost snapped as his head swivelled around to look at Sheldon who was decidedly looking at his shoes.

"You... You need help? From us?" Disbelief coloured his tone. It was not a tone that Sheldon liked hearing. He raised his head and locked eyes with Leonard. His expression was somewhere between a glare and pleading.

"I don't want to lose her Leonard. She may be insufferably irritating with her constant inability to master even basic physics, but she's special. She understands me, which previously was something only my mother was competent at."

"Maybe she's just stressed out at work? You should just talk to her Sheldon, you're probably worrying over nothing."

Sheldon nodded his head, half silently cursing the fact that they were better at this than him, half listening for the unmistakable signs of Penny returning home from work.

It was half an hour later that he heard her keys in the door across the hall. He, for the second time that evening paused the game, and walked out of the apartment.

"Damn that Vulcan hearing." Wolowitz muttered in amazement as he stared after him.

Sheldon closed the door behind him. Penny hadn't noticed him behind her and she jumped a little as Sheldon bent close to her ear and kissed her gently on the cheek.

"Sheldon!"

He appraised her emotion. She seemed happy to see him, a little flushed in the cheeks. He prayed it wasn't a fever.

But then again, he prayed that he could better understand the emotion behind her smile now. Her eyes seemed worried, downcast. A sheer contrast to the smile she had on her lips.

Regardless, she still stood on her toes to reach up and greet him properly. When they both pulled away for breath, Sheldon took the opportunity.

"Penny, we need to talk."

__

But no one is ever gonna love you more than I do  
No one's gonna love you more than I do

But someone  
They should have warned you  
When things start splitting at the seams and now  
The whole thing's tumbling down  
Things start splitting at the seams and now  
If things start splitting at the seams and now,  
It's tumbling down  
Hard

He never really understood how those 5 words could display such an emotion, but then again, he had never really seen it.

And now he kind of wished he hadn't said it like that.

Penny's eyes darkened, like a light had been extinguished from behind them. Tears began to well in them and one by one they spilled over, wetting her cheeks as the fell. She drew in a large rasping breath and her hands shook as she tried to open the door.

She gestured for Sheldon to come in. Walking to her room, she deposited her bag and shoes just behind the door and came and sat on the lounge.

He made a mental note to praise her for her tidiness later.

She took in another loud breath and looked him directly in the eye.

"What's brought all this on?"

"What do you mean Penny?"

"I mean the 'We need to talk'".

"Oh, no." He smiled, realising the misinterpretation. "I simply meant I had to clarify a social convention with you. I wasn't, as they put it, "breaking up" with you." She looked at him, nodding for him to continue. "I was merely going to enquire about why you have been seemingly distancing yourself from me lately. I feel like I haven't seen you in days."

"But I stayed over last night sweetie." She was rubbing his hand in small soothing circles. She looked down at the two hands intwined and a small tear ran down her cheek.

"Yes, I understand that." He placed a finger under her chin and raised her face to level with his. "But I've been missing you. I don't want you to be away from me. It feels like we're heading towards the so called "breakup" Penny. And it scares me."

Penny looked at him and for the first time, he looked _vulnerable_. Her heart melted at the sight of him silently pleading with her. But as soon as she realised it, that feeling was mixed with another she was fast getting used to.

As fast as she could, she stood and raced to the bathroom.

Sheldon sat silently in the lounge room, hearing the distinctive sounds of digestive evacuation. Silently wondering for a moment whether it was the right social convention to go and check on someone when they were doing that, his instincts got the better of him.

He followed her and knocked on the door.

*Knock, knock, knock*

"Penny?"

*Knock, knock, knock*

"Penny?"

*Knock, knock, knock*

"Penny?"

He could hear the faucet running so he entered slowly and saw Penny hunched over the sink. Going to stand behind her, he placed a wash cloth under the cold water and folded it precisely before placing it on her forehead.

Leading her to the bath, he gently sat her on it and pulled her close.

"I thought I saw the identifiable symptoms of a sickness earlier. Why didn't you just tell me you were sick?"

"I'm not just sick Sheldon." Penny pulled away and sat upright. "I'm pregnant." A small smile played across her lips. Sheldon recognised this smile. It was the smile he had seen on Leonard's face when he found out about him and Penny. It was the I-am-sort-of-happy-but-afraid-of-what-to-think smile.

Sheldon found himself smiling. Not a smile like Penny's. A large smile.

She was pregnant! Penny was carrying his protégé. His child.

"So when you left the other morning..."

"Morning sickness. Well, all day sickness really."

"And dinner?"

"I can't eat seafood or ham anymore. It makes dinners really difficult. I didn't want you catching me out before I got the chance to tell you."

"So you're not trying to distance yourself from me?"

"God no, honey! I want to be with you forever now." She laughed and leaned in close and kissed him gently. He responded just the way she thought he would. He pulled her to his chest and placed his hand on the side of her face as he kissed her earnestly back.

He broke away a few minutes later.

"Let's go and tell the others." He smiled.


	4. Capri

**Ok, so firstly, I need to apologise with this one. I wrote this one a fair while ago and it's been sitting there staring at me every time I begin a new story and it BEGGED me to be published. But- it's so fluffy it could be cotton wool. So... Sorry for that. **

**Based on a song called "Capri" by Colbie Cilliat. **

**AN: I don't own any of the characters (besides the baby!) and I don't own the song either. **

_She's got a baby inside  
And holds her belly tight  
All through the night  
Just so she knows  
She's sleeping so  
Safely to keep  
Her growing_

Penny restlessly walked around the apartment. Sheldon was asleep in their room, perfectly still. She wished she could join him, but while their daughter was restless inside her there was no hope for that.

Absently, she stood by the couch, fiddling with a hole in the upholstery. She placed her hands on her growing six month pregnant stomach and was greeted with a small kick from the inside. Smiling, she went to sit on the couch. The remote clattered to the floor and Penny silently cursed. Sheldon was sleeping so lightly these days she didn't want to ruin any sleep he managed to get. She leant over her swollen belly and reached for the remote. Turning on the television, she found an old rerun of Star Trek on.

It was an episode with somebody called Alixia. Penny smiled. Reaching over to the table, she grappled with a piece of paper. Groaning with effort, she slowly pulled it close to her. A pen was located down the back of the couch. She smiled wider. Sheldon was obviously getting sloppier with his cleaning efforts.

But then again, he was so worried of Penny and his daughter that all of his interests and compulsive behaviour had fallen by the wayside lately.

Penny doodled for hours before she finally closed her eyes, and it was there that Sheldon found her in the morning.

_And oh when she'll open her eyes  
There'll be no surprise  
That she'll grow to be  
So beautifully  
Just like her mother  
That's carrying  
Oh Capri  
She's beauty  
Baby inside she's loving  
Oh Capri  
She's beauty  
There is an angel growin' peacefully  
Oh Capri_

Penny looked so peaceful laying there that it almost broke Sheldon's heart to move her back to bed. She hadn't been sleeping well lately. The baby was restless and although they were in the clear now, the early days hadn't been so easy on either of them. He knew he was irrational now that everything was ok, but something inside of Sheldon couldn't stop being the overprotective paternal figure.

Upon returning to the couch to watch his Doctor Who with a bowl of Wheeties, Sheldon picked up the piece of paper that had been tucked underneath Penny. He studied the name, written time and time again and smiled. It was perfect.

Alixia Capri Cooper.

_Sweet baby  
And things will be hard at times  
But I've learned to try  
Just listening  
Patiently, oh Capri  
Sweet baby  
Oh Capri  
She's beauty  
Baby inside she's loving  
Oh Capri  
Your beauty  
Just like your mother  
That's carrying...Oh Capri_


	5. With Arms Wide Open

**Hey guys, linking on from the last couple of fan fics, I've based this one on the absolutely adorable song "With Arms Wide Open" by Creed. **

**Sheldon is worried how he's going to cope with being careful and caring towards something so small. **

**I had to use a little authors' liberty to change a couple of lines of lyrics. They're in bold in the selected verse, and I had to change it for the flow of previous story plots. Anyways, hope you like the new double chapter posting to make up for the lack of it in the past week. Enjoy, read and review. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own the characters or the song. **

_Well I don't know if I'm ready  
To be the man I have to be  
I'll take a breath, I'll take her by my side  
We stand in awe, we've created life _

According to her, she had her eyes, her lips and her nose.

According to him, she had his eyes, her lips and his nose.

According to the others, she was just perfect. Plain and simple.

_With arms wide open  
Under the sunlight  
Welcome to this place  
I'll show you everything  
With arms wide open  
Now everything has changed  
I'll show you love  
I'll show you everything  
With arms wide open  
With arms wide open  
I'll show you everything ...oh yeah  
With arms wide open..wide open_

Penny was sleeping as the nurse wheeled their daughter in from the nursery.

The nurse described it as a bit of father- daughter bonding. Sheldon saw it as an opportunity for just observing as his daughter slept in the mobile crib. The nurse frowned as she explained the psychological benefits of holding the baby. Sheldon merely smirked at her reference to psychology.

He was perfectly ok with just watching for the time being, and in all honesty, he was a little scared of holding her. She was so tiny and so perfect. His hands were so large and as much as he hated to admit it, clumsy. He could never forgive himself if something happened to her.

As he leant over the crib, mentally remembering every detail of her little face, she yawned and opened her eyes.

Sheldon smiled as he remembered Penny's indignant attitude yesterday as Raj, Howard and Leonard had said she had Sheldon's eyes. But as he looked at her perfectly blue eyes now, he knew that they were his. He had seen them in the bathroom mirror every morning since he was tall enough to reach it. She did have Penny's perfect button nose though. Whose intelligence she inherited remained to be seen.

She yawned again and let out a tiny squeak as she stretched. She locked her eyes onto Sheldon and smiled a tiny imperfect smile. Sheldon took a quick look at his watch and memorised the time. He would have to tell Penny later when she awoke.

As his tiny daughter looked at him, he found a strange urge to pick her up and hold her. A natural paternal feeling- a non optional social convention- he reasoned. As his long fingered hands scooped her up and brought her close to his chest, she squirmed a bit and Sheldon was momentarily flushed with panic. But as she settled close to his chest and snuggled into his favourite Flash shirt, he reached down for the tiny hand that was clasping onto the fabric.

As he carefully played with her tiny hand, her white fleecy baby-gro felt as soft against his skin as her skin did. He smiled slightly. He could do this.

"You just wait until you're old enough to understand physics terminology." He whispered. "There's hope for you yet."

_If I had just one wish  
Only one demand  
I hope __**she's**__ not like me  
I hope __**she **__understands  
That __**she**__ can take this life  
And hold it by the hand  
And __**she**__ can greet the world  
With arms wide open..._

.

Up on the bed, pretending she was asleep, Penny smiled.

_Physics? _She thought. _I can live with that. _


	6. She Will Be Loved

**Hey guys. So this one has nothing to do with the previous chapters up here, I was listening to "She Will Be Loved" by Maroon 5 and thought about how much this song would work in a duet and at the time, I was reading a wonderful fan fiction by immortalbeloved13 called My Fair Penny. Needless to say, inspiration struck me like two photons in a subatomic particle accelerator. Haha. **

**I really encourage you guys to have the song playing as you read the lyrics, because it really helps with the visual. Anyways, hope you enjoy! **

She wasn't sure how it happened, but she was going to take advantage of it. She would never get another chance.

He was more than cooperative when she grabbed his hand and dragged him up on the stage. As she handed him a microphone, he smiled at her but his voice wasn't sure.

"Are you sure this is a non optional social convention?"

"Yes Sheldon. When you're drunk and at karaoke, it's more than accepted that you're going to sing."

"Penny, I haven't been entirely honest with you. You can't sing. Neither can I. This is going to be a bigger disaster than the Ptolemaic theory."

"Honey, take a look around."

The slightly tipsy Sheldon obliged and looked at the faces surrounding the stage.

"They're all drunken business men, Sheldon. They don't care what you sound like. They are knee deep in Sake."

Penny motioned to the DJ. The music started up and Sheldon took his spot in front of the screen.

Penny: Beauty queen of only eighteen  
She had some trouble with herself

Sheldon: He was always there to help her  
She always belonged to someone else

I drove for miles and miles  
And wound up at your door

Penny: I've had you so many times but somehow  
I want more

Sheldon: I don't mind spending everyday  
Out on your corner in the pouring rain  
Look for the girl with the broken smile  
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile

Both: And she will be loved  
She will be loved

Penny: Tap on my window

Sheldon: Knock on my door  
I want to make you feel beautiful

Penny: I know I tend to get insecure

Sheldon: It doesn't matter anymore

Penny: It's not always rainbows and butterflies  
It's compromise that moves us along

Sheldon: My heart is full and my door's always open  
You can come anytime you want

Penny: I don't mind spending everyday  
Out on your corner in the pouring rain  
Look for the girl with the broken smile  
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile

Both: And she will be loved  
She will be loved

Sheldon: I know where you hide  
Alone in your car

Penny: Know all of the things that make you who you are

Both: I know that goodbye means nothing at all

Sheldon: Comes back and begs me to catch her every time she falls

Penny: Tap on my window

Sheldon: Knock on my door  
I want to make you feel beautiful

Sheldon: I don't mind spending everyday  
Penny: Out on your corner in the pouring rain  
Sheldon: Look for the girl with the broken smile  
Penny: Ask her if she wants to stay awhile  
Both: And she will be loved

She will be loved

Penny jumped from the stage squealing with excitement. Sheldon followed silently, but smiling. Over in the corner Raj, Howard and Leonard sat in stunned silence.

"Wasn't he good?" Penny screamed as she ran up to them.

"He was... fine. You were great though Penny. Great." Leonard replied, looking into his glass of sake.

"Are you kidding Leonard? He was amazing!" Penny said as she stared adoringly at Sheldon, completely ignoring Leonard's attempt at flattery. Sheldon felt his face flush as she leant up and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you for singing with me." She whispered as she stood on her toes to wipe the excess lip gloss from his cheek.

Sheldon wasn't sure how it had happened, but as they sat at the table later, enjoying Howard and Raj singing Pretty Fly for a White Guy by the Offspring, he felt his knee knock into Penny's and saw her small smile. He reached down, never taking his eyes off the stage, and took her hand in his.

The next day Sheldon and Penny were sat on the couch, hand in hand, watching Star Trek when Howard burst in. They immediately let go of each other's hands and shared an awkward glance. Penny raised her eyebrows at Sheldon. The most subtle way she could think of to tell him to act natural.

He obviously got the message because he immediately crossed one leg over the other and leant his arm on the arm rest of the couch. He smiled his creepy smile at Howard and then returned his eyes to the television. _At least he tried_, she sighed.

"What's going on Howard?" Penny asked when Sheldon remained staring at the television.

"Someone put your performance on youtube!"

"Who?" Penny asked.

"That would be me." Howard replied as he logged into youtube. But Penny just laughed. She didn't need to see it again. Something told her she would remember that night for a long time.

Meanwhile, Sheldon winced. He was still recovering from his hangover.


	7. Feels Like Home

**Hey gang. A fic based on the song "Feels Like Home" by Chantal Kreviazuk. Slightly fluffy and OOC, so sorry about that. I tried to keep it as close as I could, but probably not my best effort. **

**SYNOPSIS: Sheldon Cooper is probably the last person you would go to for comfort. He is probably even less of the person that you would go to for protection. But when he is called on for both, can he be the bigger man and stop with his idiosyncrasies and OCD behaviour?**

**A/N: Don't own the song or the characters. Figured I had better do it this chapter because I think I forgot last time. **

*** * ***

**A window breaks down a long dark street  
And a siren wails in the night  
But I'm alright 'cause I have you here with me  
And I can almost see through the dark there's light**

*Knock knock knock*

"Sheldon?" Penny leant around the door and peeked into Sheldon's bedroom. "Sheldon!" She whispered loudly.

"Danger danger!" Sheldon exclaimed as he sat bolt upright in bed, his blankets falling around the waist of his Saturday night pyjamas. He rubbed his eyes and squinted into the dark. "Penny?"

"Yeah, it's me." She stepped around the ajar door and into the room.

"Penny, people are not supposed to be in my bedroom."

"I know but I'm scared."

"You came all the way over here to tell me that?"

"No, I came all the way over here to ask you if you would let me stay here for a little while." She slipped into the room and sat on the end of Sheldon's bed.

"What are you scared of?"

"There are sirens going all down the street. I think there's been a crime."

Sheldon evaluated her features and she did look frightened. The evidence in her body language certainly validated the claims. She was tense and at the same time skittish. She kept looking around the room and her face was certainly white enough.

It was bright enough to radiate her features into the dark and her eyes found his. They pleaded to him without her saying a word and he found himself relaxing despite her presence in his room in the early hours of the morning.

"Ok, but let me grab you some cushions and blankets from the lounge room."

"Thank you sweetie." She smiled. As he rose from the bed and left the room, Penny laid down on the end of the bed. She was almost asleep by the time she could hear Sheldon coming back. The smell of the bedding was distinctly Sheldon. Fabric softener and a smell she couldn't quite identify. It calmed her but she wasn't sure why. Breathing deeply, she found herself falling deeper and deeper into rest.

* * *

Sheldon came back into the room to find her curled into the foetal position. He eyed the blankets in his hands and sighed.

_I suppose one night on the floor wouldn't be so bad. A friendly favour as it were. _He thought.

Arranging the blankets just so, he lay down and tried to fall asleep. Up on the bed, he could hear Penny breathing softly and he was surprised with how such a simple thing could make his heart beat that little bit faster.

* * *

**  
**It was barely a few hours later when Penny woke with a start. She expected to find herself back in her apartment, Sheldon having grown frustrated with her stealing the bottom half of his bed. Instead she eyed the superhero figurines on the shelves (not hers), the star trek poster stuck on the closet door (again, not hers) and figured out that she was still in Sheldon's room. Tiny bit by tiny bit she edged her toe to the top of the bed. When she reached the headboard, she knew that Sheldon wasn't in the bed with her.

_But where was he?_

A small sniffling sound sounded from the floor below and adrenaline coursed through Penny's body. She inched over the edge of the bed and saw Sheldon sleeping there.

She smiled. He was obviously reacting to the small amounts of dust on the floor and yet he had slept there. Her heart filled with warmth. His face looked relaxed. More relaxed than she had ever seen him when he was awake.

Then she moved. It was of her own accord and she couldn't justify it to herself, but suddenly, she found herself on the floor beside him, her arm resting across his chest. She breathed in and smelt the same scent that was all over the bed sheets.

Distinctly Sheldon.

**If you knew how much this moment means to me  
And how long I've waited for your touch  
If you knew how happy you are making me  
I've never thought I'd love anyone so much**

**Feels like home to me  
Feels like home to me  
Feels like I'm all the way back where  
I come from  
Feels like home to me  
Feels like home to me  
Feels like I'm all the way back where I belong**

When Sheldon woke shortly before dawn, he felt the arm before he saw it. A slender arm resting on his chest, rising and falling with his breaths.

Instantly his personal bubble shrank, until he looked over and saw the messy blonde head burying itself into his shoulder, a head that smelt noticeably of vanilla. He smiled slightly as he relaxed his body. Leaning his head into hers, he inhaled softly.

If only she knew how long he had waited for this moment.


	8. Fireflies

**AN: Hey guys, it's been ages since I wrote a last chapter, and I've been listening to this song on repeat all day so I guessed it was a sign!**

**Based on the song called "Fireflies" by Owl City, this song is amazing. **

**What can Sheldon do for Penny when she can't sleep and it's beginning to affect him? **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the series (or these two would so be together by now) or this song, but take my recommendation to take a listen. **

**FIREFLIES**

_You would not believe your eyes  
If ten million fireflies  
Lit up the world as I fell asleep_

'Cause they'd fill the open air  
And leave teardrops everywhere  
you'd think me rude  
But I would just stand and stare

Penny was one of those people who fell asleep whenever she wanted. If she craved a late night, she had one. When she was tired, she slept.

That's why on that particular night, she was frustrated. After tossing and turning for a few hours, she rose from her bed and wrapped her blanket around her as she walked into the lounge.

After searching the couch for a few minutes for the remote for the TV, she located it under the coffee table. Flicking on the TV, she channel surfed for a few minutes before she realised that there was nothing at all on.

Turning off the TV, she looked around the empty apartment that was lit with the various lamps scattered about the room. Staring at her front door, she rose and went back to her room.

Not very comforted by the darkness in there, she quickly searched around in her drawers for an outfit. When she returned to the lounge to put on the shirt and shorts, she didn't even care that she had a red shirt and some pink shorts. Pulling her hair up messily, she crossed the room and picked up her car keys from beneath all her bills on the side table and closed the door behind her.

As she passed the doorway to 4A, she contemplated going in and asking Sheldon to join her, but she figured he would be asleep. It was way too late for him to be up unless he was working on an equation. And as for asking Leonard... Well, she could think of not a lot worse.

She got into her car and drove out of the parking lot, she realised that she had no idea where she was going. Following the freeway, she found herself heading east, towards the hills. As her car struggled up the inclines, the 'check engine' light seemed to glow brighter than ever before. She smiled as she realised she was right in not bringing Sheldon.

Parking the car in a layaway, she got out and sat on the bonnet. She could see Pasadena so well from up here, the lights scattered in front of her, glowing so brightly. The lights from the cars on the freeway moved along with a perfect precision and she found herself mesmerised by the sight.

They looked like a million fireflies and as Penny got back into the car to head home, she knew she would be telling Sheldon about this the next morning. And to her surprise, the second she laid her head on the pillow, she was dreaming of fields and fireflies.

_I'd like to make myself believe  
That planet Earth turns slowly  
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay  
Awake when I'm asleep  
'Cause everything is never as it seems_

'Cause I'd get a thousand hugs  
From ten thousand lightning bugs  
As they tried to teach me how to dance

A foxtrot above my head  
A sock hop beneath my bed  
A disco ball is just hanging by a thread

Sheldon Cooper had had the same bedtime since he was 10 years old. Years of repetition had his body well trained enough to know that when he lay down, he should enter a REM cycle.

And yet tonight, his body didn't seem to get the memo.

He tossed and turned for hours, listing every list he could think of, from all the Nobel prize winners through to the periodic table (in order of atomic number AND electro negativity). Finally, he rose from bed and went to the kitchen to make himself some warm milk.

As he was stirring the pot, he heard footsteps across the hall. Looking down at his watch (which was set to the Boulder clock in Colorado) he knew it was exactly 2:14am.

Wondering why on Earth Penny was up at 2:14am exactly; he crossed the room and listened from behind the door. Sighing to himself, he returned to his mug of warm milk and went back to bed.

His thoughts about Penny kept him awake for exactly 42 minutes and 15 seconds.

_I'd like to make myself believe  
That planet Earth turns slowly  
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay  
Awake when I'm asleep  
'Cause everything is never as it seems  
When I fall asleep_

Leave my door open just a crack  
(Please take me away from here)  
'Cause I feel like such an insomniac  
(Please take me away from here)  
Why do I tire of counting sheep  
(Please take me away from here)  
When I'm far too tired to fall asleep

The third night that Penny couldn't sleep, she didn't venture out to the hills to watch the lights straight away- she risked going to see Sheldon Cooper.

Using her spare key, she softly let herself into the apartment avoiding the loud floorboard only to find Sheldon standing by his whiteboard.

"Damn." She whispered.

"Nice try." He smugly answered without turning around.

"What are you still doing up?"

"I found myself not entering an appropriate REM cycle for the third night in a row and now I'm brainstorming what could be a possible solution."

"I know of one."

He turned to face her. "I strongly doubt that you could have come up with a competent solution that I have not already thought of."

"Where do you think I've been going for the last three nights?" She smiled. He simply raised his eyebrow.

She crossed the room and grabbed him by the elbow, ignoring his protests about his personal bubble and his current attire and pulled him along behind her to the parking lot.

That night was the 6th time in his life that Sheldon Cooper had been speechless. Until he saw the check engine light flashing on the way down the hill.

_To ten million fireflies  
I'm weird 'cause I hate goodbyes  
I got misty eyes as they said farewell_

But I'll know where several are  
If my dreams get real bizarre  
'Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar

I'd like to make myself believe  
That planet Earth turns slowly  
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay  
Awake when I'm asleep  
'Cause everything is never as it seems  
When I fall asleep

The fourth night in a row, Penny didn't even bother to toss and turn. Grabbing her keys, she let herself into Sheldon's lounge room to find it empty and him fast asleep in his bed. Frowning slightly, she shut the door as quietly as she could and left.

That night, according to Sheldon's watch, she was only gone for an hour and 3 minutes.

_  
_  
_I'd like to make myself believe  
That planet Earth turns slowly  
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay  
Awake when I'm asleep  
'Cause everything is never as it seems  
When I fall asleep_

I'd like to make myself believe  
That planet earth turns slowly  
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay  
Awake when I'm asleep  
Because my dreams are bursting at the seams

Her shift at the Cheesecake factory went slowly that day and she found herself looking at the clock and waiting until it got dark outside. As soon as the clock read 9:01, she dropped her notepad and pen by the door, waved goodbye to Bernadette and half ran to her car. Taking the quickest way home, she parked her car haphazardly and got out. Running up two flights of stairs, she walked the rest, automatically stopping to look at the door of 4A and let herself into her apartment.

Opening the door, she stopped. There was more light than there should have been. Looking around, millions of fairy lights littered every surface of the apartment, each emitting a small glow. On the roof, small dots of glow in the dark paint in light yellow and orange dotted where the lights didn't reach. She followed the brightest string of lights into her room, where a dull glow was emitting.

The lights were dimmer here, it was still mostly dark. As she went to investigate further though, she saw that each light here had tiny wings painted just where they were attached to the walls.

Just like fireflies.

Going into the kitchen, there was a note on the bench. She immediately recognised Sheldon's handwriting.

**I hope this helps. **

**Now please stop ruining my REM cycle with your insomnia and the planet with your fuel usage. **

That night, Penny slept all the way through the night. Funnily enough, so did Sheldon.


	9. Any Other Name

Just a small piece that has been in the back of my mind all day, based on the song that plays in American Beauty when they see the dancing trash bag (I believe it's called "Any Other Name" by Thomas Newman).

AN: Don't own anything. Sadly, because I think this would be an amazing scene one day.

* * *

The sunlight filtered through the trees and as she stood on the porch and searched through the dancing, browning leaves, she knew that they were ok.

Her daughter's tinkling laugh stirred up the birds and they chimed in, as his formal and precise voice- warmed with age and no longer clinical- sounded above them all.

He often took her out to teach her the ways of the world and as only his child could, she listened attentively, immersing herself in every way to his teachings.

Even at a young age, she would never cease to amaze her as her daughter's eyes, mirror copies of her husband's blue ones, would see the world differently. Every moving component, every single part was what made the object real to her.

And now as she stood in the dying light of the day with the sunset tinging everything, even more so, in gentle autumn colours of red, gold and orange, she stood proudly as her daughters squeals of delight filtered through the woods and as they emerged, her tiny Alixia Capri on top of her husband's tall shoulders- fistfuls of autumn colour in her hands- she felt the tiny nudge within her abdomen that reminded her so much of home.

Of the family they were starting. Of the new generation that they would soon cherish and teach until they knew that the cycle, just like the seasons, would repeat.


	10. Book of Love

**AN: Hey guys, long time no post! Been so busy with uni work and the like so I have had no time to write anything. So I took some time off from writing my essay about "South East Asia National Identities and Their Implications to the Pacific" (boring, yes I know) to finish off this little fluff piece I had lying around. Anyways, read and review like normal and enjoy your weekend! **

**Based off of The Book of Love by Peter Gabriel. **

The Book of Love

The book of love is long and boring  
No one can lift the damn thing  
It's full of charts and facts and figures and instructions for dancing  
But I  
I love it when you read to me  
And you  
You can read me anything

She remembers him reading to her. She remembers the title of the book. She remembers the introduction... And not much else.

The book was incredibly long and complex. Just the way she likes it. Not for the content within the book, but for the way his Texan drawl infiltrates the long and complicated words, to her it's better than a lullaby.

He did it for the scientific experiment on subconscious osmosis, she did it for the way she loved curling into his shoulder and feeling his heartbeat. It was always perfectly timed to the beats of the syllables. The way she always felt so safe within his arms, the way he always wanted to protect her from everything out there that could do her harm.

The book of love has music in it  
In fact that's where music comes from  
Some of it is just transcendental  
Some of it is just really dumb  
But I  
I love it when you sing to me  
And you  
You can sing me anything

He remembers her singing to him. He remembers what the song is called. He remembers the introduction... And not much else.

The song was sweet and soft. Just the way he likes it. Not for the way that she sings the melody, but for the way her sweetness coats every word and makes him think that the words are the truth, to him it's the better than Meemaw's lullabies.

She did it to help him finally put his complex mind to rest; he did it for the way she always sang the right thing, the right way. It was always the best way to fall asleep after a long day, the way she always managed to manipulate his body out of the "vampire pose" and into something that they could cuddle with throughout the night. The way he let her think she was changing him while he was asleep, but he knew he wouldn't rest until she was softly breathing next to his side.

The book of love is long and boring  
And written very long ago  
It's full of flowers and heart-shaped boxes  
And things we're all too young to know  
But I  
I love it when you give me things  
And you  
You ought to give me wedding rings  
And I  
I love it when you give me things  
And you  
You ought to give me wedding rings  
And I  
I love it when you give me things  
And you  
You ought to give me wedding rings  
You ought to give me wedding rings

She remembers the church. He remembers everything. She remembers his nervousness... And they remember the words.

The words weren't clinical. Just the way she likes it. She didn't cry. Just the way he likes it. Happy tears or not, they make him ache inside. It was altogether, as seamless as a lullaby.

She did it because she loves him. He does it because he loves her. It was always the best way to end a long day, to know they would be heading home to each other. Then came along something they didn't expect, and for a moment, it altered the lullaby.

So they changed the tune and added another melody to an already complex song. Their twins were beautiful and they couldn't wait until they were old enough to tell them about the song they had used for their entire lives.


	11. Awake

**Heya guys. A little something I came up with when I should have been writing an essay, but due to my writers block of late, I'll take inspiration when I can get it! Based on a BEAUTIFUL song by Josh Groban called "Awake".**

**Synopsis: Penny has a little trouble letting go. **

**AN: I don't own the song, or the characters. I wish. **

_A beautiful and blinding morning  
The world outside begins to breathe  
See clouds arriving without warning  
I need you here to shelter me_

Penny lay silently across his chest, playing gently with his skin. Her fingers left a trail of goose bumps in their wake and she wondered whether they were caused by the cold or the feeling of skin on skin. Outside in the world below the apartment of 4B, the residents of her neighbourhood were waking and beginning their daily routines. Cars rumbled past, taking adults to work and children to school and Penny wondered how people could be so normal on a day like this.

Penny hugged herself closer to Sheldon and felt his heartbeat, slow and constant, beneath her head. She would stay like this forever if it kept him from going. A deep rumble erupted from somewhere inside him and his breath spiked into a long inhale and exhale.

"Good morning", he whispered.

Her voice threatened to betray her steely exterior, so she kept the greeting minimal.

"Good morning", she whispered back. As hard as she tried, her eyes began to sting and worrying that tears were going to begin to flow she rolled away from him and stood. Stretching, she turned to see him doing the same thing. His pyjama bottoms had slipped a little in the night and Penny spied the dimples in his lower back.

An aching erupted within her throat and she busied herself in her drawers looking for some clothes to distract her. As Sheldon walked behind her and placed a warm hand on her lower back, her sharp intake of breath alerted him to her silent shuddering. Raising her face to meet his, he saw the track marks of tears past and the new ones snaking down her cheeks.

_  
And I know that only time will tell us how  
To carry on without each other_

So keep me awake to memorize you  
Give me more time to feel this way  
We can't stay like this forever  
But I can have you next to me today  


"Penny? What is the matter?"

She opened her eyes and stared at him.

"You don't know?" She asked, her voice watery.

"Well, as far as I have developed my knowledge of emotions, all I know is that you're sad. The motives behind it, however, evade me."

"I don't want you to go! God, Sheldon! Sometimes I swear you are a robot!" She took a step back and immediately felt guilty. She should be supportive. Sheldon stood in the same spot, his hand as it was when it was on her back. His face was one of confusion and hurt. Penny's tears flowed more thickly and she ran past him into the bathroom. She slammed the door and sat on the edge of the bath, her face in her hands.

When he had told her of his endeavour, she had excitedly told him he was making the best decision. But now? She wasn't so sure.

Her body shook with silent sobs and her body ached inside so much, she wondered if she would ever be ok with him going.

_  
If I could make these moments endless  
If I could stop the winds of change  
If we just keep our eyes wide open  
Then everything would stay the same_

And I know that only time will tell me how  
We'll carry on without each other

So keep me awake for every moment  
Give us more time to be this way  
We can't stay like this forever  
But I can have you next to me today

In Penny's room, Sheldon leant against the open drawer and tried to interpret what had just happened.

Penny did not want him to go.

Penny was upset that he didn't know she didn't want him to go

He had gotten upset at her hurt.

She had gotten upset at his hurt.

Penny had run into the bathroom and he could hear her crying.

He shook his head as he reached into the drawer for a pair of shorts and began folding, just to give his hands something to do. His mind however, was working overtime.

Of course he was going away; a brand new physics research lab had just opened up in Alaska. It was the dream of a lifetime. And it was only for 3 months, as long as the Arctic trip had been and she had lasted without them then. He paused, his hand on the shirt she had worn when she had dislocated her shoulder. But he knew she would miss him far more this time. They hadn't been a part of the traditional relationship paradigm that long, but he knew that this time it was different.

She was worried things would change.

"Oh!" He whispered, dropping the shirt.

Last night was the last night he would spend with Penny for three months. His arms suddenly felt heavy. Turning to the bathroom door, the sounds of running water came from behind it and he wondered whether she was actually showering or whether it was to drown out the sounds of her crying.

Approaching the door, Sheldon fought the immense urge to knock and opened the door softly. The shower curtain was pulled across and Penny was nowhere to be seen. Walking up to the shower curtain, Sheldon gently peeked inside. Penny was standing with her back to him, her arms braced against the wall as she let the water run over her face. Her blonde hair was getting wet and sticking to the exposed skin of her back and her neck. Sheldon stepped, still clothed in his pyjama bottoms, into the shower and placed his hand on her bare hip.

She coughed and spluttered under the water and turned to meet his eyes with her own.

"I'm sorry I must leave you." He muttered. He pulled her into a hug and felt her warm, moist skin against his cold, dry chest and felt a tingling in his spine.

The water was seeping up his pants' leg, and normally, this would cause a panic attack, but he felt strangely calm, his fingers tracing a small circle on her lower back.

__

We'll let tomorrow wait, you're here, right now, with me  
All my fears just fall away, when you are all I see

We can't stay like this forever  
But I have you here today

And I will remember  
Oh I will remember  
Remember all the love we shared today

She would have loved to remember how it happened, a story to tell her friends one day, but she couldn't recall a thing. Only that it was amazing.

She could remember the moment he stepped into the shower with her, how he hugged her and she could definitely remember the way she crushed her lips against his as she pulled him closer. She doesn't remember turning off the water, or how they made it back to her bedroom.

He remembers the way she made his mind go blank, the way she dragged moans from his throat and he could definitely remember the way he pulled her in closer, afraid to let her go. He remembers the way she told him she loved him and the way he said it back. He remembers the way she laid in his arms afterwards and she seemed calmer, less afraid to say goodbye.

She remembers how she felt it was ok, how she knew everything would be fine. And that may have been the endorphins –_Holy crap on a cracker, where did that come from?- _but she could do this. As she leant in to kiss him again, she was going to make the most of this.


	12. Whaddaya Want from Me?

**A/N: Now that I'm finally finished with university for the semester (can I get a whoop whoop?), I've found that my inspiration has come back with a vengeance. Here's another chapter based on the song "Whaddaya Want from Me" by Adam Lambert. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own either Penny or Sheldon. I wish. I want my own Sheldon. I also don't own this song. Which is a shame. Its lyrics are beautiful. **

__

_Hey, slow it down  
What do you want from me  
What do you want from me  
Yeah, I'm afraid  
What do you want from me  
What do you want from me_

There might have been a time  
When I would give myself away  
Oh once upon a time  
I didn't give a damn

But now  
Here we are

So what do you want from me

Penny sighed as she stared in the mirror. _Date three, _she thought to herself. _Everyone knows what that means. _

As she pulled at the hem of her sweater dress to tug it down further over her jeans her eyes met her own in the mirror and she wondered how the Hell it had come to this. She could pick the exact instant of self destruction- breaking up with Leonard.

Hell, she didn't regret it. He was- _and still is, _she corrected herself- an arrogant, whiny man who sought to use her body as self medication from a stereotype.

But she did miss the feeling of cuddling up to someone at night. And that was how she had gotten into this again. And again. This was the fourth guy since she had ended things with Leonard.

And she knew she would be onto guy five soon enough. Things never went further than the third date.

As she leant over to her dresser to find her lip gloss, a trio of knocks echoed around the apartment.

Sighing, she turned and went to answer the door. Standing behind the closed door, she waited so Sheldon could continue his OCD type of knock. Pulling on the handle, she opened the door to see him in her favourite Superman shirt. Once upon a time, she would have thought of him as the perfect Superman. Looking down, she saw the unfortunate plaid pants and sighed. Long ago that would have ignited a giggle. She didn't do that much anymore.

"What's going on honey?"

"It's Halo night."

"... Yeah?"

"Well, I need you to be on my team. Wolowitz is collecting his mother from the gym."

"And as unfortunate as that mental image is, I have a date."

"Another one?" He asked innocently. Anger flared inside Penny, but she bit her tongue. He didn't know any better.

"Not the right thing to say Sheldon." She gritted her teeth.

"Well, excuse me for commenting then," he began and Penny braced "but it seems to me that you are rarely home anymore for these dates." His face dropped and her breath hitched in her throat.

_He missed her! _

"Oh, well, yeah. I guess I'm pretty popular at the moment" She tried to smile, but even she knew that it had come out as a grimace.

"Penny, is everything ok?"

She closed her eyes and nodded, knowing that her voice would falter if she tried to speak. Opening them, she saw Sheldon had taken a step forward and was watching her intently.

"I'm fine." She whispered. "I have to go." And with that she closed the door, leaving him standing there helplessly. Leaning on the inside of the door, she slid down its length onto the floor. Raising her eyes to the ceiling, she felt her eyes well.

_She missed him too._

_Just don't give up  
I'm workin' it out  
Please don't give in  
I won't let you down  
It messed me up  
Need a second to breathe  
Just keep coming around  
Hey  
What do you want from me  
What do you want from me_

_Yeah, it's plain to see  
That baby you are beautiful  
There's nothing wrong with you  
It's me  
I'm a freak_

But thanks for loving me  
'Cause your doing it perfectly

Sheldon was concerned. His recent Google search on the observations he had made about Penny recently was a concern. The way his heart had sunk when he had talked to her just before was a concern. The way the guys had seemingly given up on her was a concern.

_Distancing, weight loss, pallid complexion, insomnia..._

He looked at the word in front of him and his blood chilled.

Depression.

_No. Not for Penny. Not for my happy, aesthetically pleasing Penny._

As he looked at the door and imagined her door 20 feet away- closed, locking her inside- he felt anger. The kind of anger he had not felt since he was a child towards Mrs McCluskey's chicken.

He had resented that damned chicken the same way he now resented Leonard. This was his fault.

_You're being irrational, _said the voice in his head.

"Since when have I ever been irrational?" He answered out loud. "There are plenty of plausible reasons why this is Leonard's fault."

_Such as?_

"He has not been to check up on her once since they broke up. As far as I have gathered from my few conversations with Penny recently, he hasn't even said hello. He has alienated those simpletons Raj and Howard with simple manipulation under the so called "Bro-Code" in which it apparently states they cannot interact with her.."

_Ok, ok. So it's Leonard's fault._

"Told you so."

Walking to his whiteboard, Sheldon picked up his whiteboard marker and paused, holding it an inch from the surface.

There had to be a solution for this. A way to fix her. Her pale face lingered in his mind, her eyes- which used to be his favourite feature for the way they sparkled with happiness and enthusiasm- were dull and surrounded by dark rings. The way she had tried to smile caused his stomach to drop into the lower lumbar region of his abdomen and his hand shook.

Recapping the marker, he realised he had to break the cycle of the dates with these troglodytes and remind her how loved she really was.

Looking at the clock, he realised he only had an hour to do this.

_Let's see the troglodytes do this!_

_Yeah, there might have been a time  
When i would just let you slip away  
I wouldn't even try  
But I think you could save my life_

Just don't give up  
I'm workin' it out  
Please don't give in  
I won't let you down  
It messed me up  
Need a second to breathe  
Just keep coming around  
Hey  
What do you want from me

What do you want from me

What do you want from me

No, I won't let you down

Penny walked slowly up the stairs. Alone.

_So much for three dates. _She shrugged. _Oh well, at least I don't have to worry about kicking someone out of my house tomorrow morning. _

Fumbling in the bottom of her handbag for her keys, she had just fished them out when she heard the door of 4A opening. Trying to ignore it, she put her keys in the lock and turned it.

"Penny?"

She couldn't ignore it now.

She turned to see Sheldon standing there in the suit she had picked out for him for his Chancellors Award speech. Her voice caught in her throat.

He crossed the hall and stood right in front of her. She looked up, really up (_God, I forgot how fricken tall he is)_ and saw an expression on her face that she had never seen before. Just as she opened her mouth to tell him she was leaving, he dropped to one knee in a smooth fluid motion. For the second time in three minutes, her voice failed her and her mouth remained open in shock.

"Sheldon?" She squeaked.

"Penny. Would you do me the honour of accompanying me for dinner this evening?"

"Um.. I already ate sweetie. I had that date remember?"

"Of course I remember Penny. I have an..."

"Eidetic memory" She finished for him. He shot her a look. He cleared his throat and continued.

"I had anticipated that, so "dinner" in all its formality merely consists of frozen yoghurt and a Star Wars marathon."

"Sheldon... I don't know." Her eyes lingered on the inside of 4A where she could see the glow of hundreds of candles. On the table sat all 6 Star Wars movies and a tub of her favourite strawberry frozen yoghurt. She saw Sheldon's spot, with hers right next to it. She hadn't been in there in months. She looked back down at Sheldon. His eyes were the bluest she had ever seen them. He merely looked back into her dull green ones with the same intensity he gave to an equation that had him stumped.

"I'm not going to give up Penny." Keeping a hold of her hand, he slowly stood. His eyes never left hers.

"What do you want from me?" She whispered.

He sighed.

"I want the old Penny back. The one who used to come around for Chinese food and Halo nights. The one who used to throw her laundry in the washer without regard for colours or whites. The one who used to come home from work with sore feet, smelling of cheesecake and complaining how much she hated it, but always with a smile on her face for us. I want the old independent, doesn't give a Nebraskan rat's ass Penny back."

Penny's eyes filled and she looked away. She swallowed hard.

_He doesn't realise how much I want her back as well._

"Most of all," he finished. "I want the Penny I have spent the last three years falling in love with back."

She turned back. "What?" she whispered.

"I have stood in the background for the last three years, watching you blossom from a Nebraskan Corn Husker to a beautiful woman. I stood idly by while you embarked on a disastrous relationship with Leonard and I have watched over the past three months while you self destruct and go from the beautiful woman I knew... This isn't who you are Penny."

Penny looked at her feet. The tears began to overflow. _Sheldon wants to bring me back. Just like Superman. _

"Did you say Star Wars?" A small smile crept across her teary face.

Sheldon's stomach did somersaults inside his body. _It's a start._

__

So, just don't give up  
I'm workin' it out  
Please don't give in  
I won't let you down  
It messed me up  
Need a second to breathe  
Just keep coming around  
Hey  
What do you want from me

So,just don't give up  
I'm workin' it out  
Please don't give in  
I won't let you down  
It messed me up  
Need a second to breathe  
Just keep coming around  
Hey

What do you want from me

What do you want from me

What do you want from me


	13. Tennessee

**AN: Based on a beautiful piece of instrumental work for a soundtrack, called "Tennessee" by Hans Zimmer (it's on the Pearl Harbour soundtrack if anyone wants to have a listen). I know neither Penny nor Sheldon are from Tennessee, but eh, what's in a name right? I apologise for the amount of fluff and OOC-ness displayed here, but I have just finished watching Pearl Harbour and I was hankering for some real soppy love story type fics. **

**I don't own Shenny nor this song. But I would love to learn how to play it. **

She knew that as she ran through the corn field, he wouldn't be too far away. His Vulcan hearing allowed him an unfair advantage in corn field hide and seek.

Suddenly, to her left, she heard a rather loud and violent sneeze. She giggled quietly. She turned to where the sound had come from and was startled by an abrupt sniff and was taken off guard by the long strong arms that clasped her from behind.

Her shriek of happiness and surprise startled the crows away from the crops as he dragged her down with him.

As they lay on the ground surrounded by tall stems of corn, the rows blocking out most of the light, she leant up on her elbows and watched him lying peacefully on the floor.

This wasn't the man she had known in Pasadena. He was playful, calm and collected.

Nebraska had brought out the better of them both.

Even now, as he opened his amazingly blue eyes to watch her, she was amazed to feel the own burning beneath her skin. He stretched out a hand and brushed it along her arm, sending shivers down her spine and drawing a gasp from her throat.

She scooted over to rest on his chest, her head resting just below his chin. His heartbeat was steady, a constant pulse against the rising heat in her face.

As she raised her head, she saw the ocean- blue eyes still watching her intently. Very carefully, as if afraid she would scare him off she placed a small kiss on the inside of his jaw and then on the corner of his mouth.

He turned his head just slightly to catch the corner of her lips with his and as his hands tangled in her hair and pulled her in closer, she kissed him just like they had when they were dating. It seemed so long ago now as she caught a glimpse of her wedding ring in the fading daylight.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled away. For a moment, sapphire burnt into emerald as she held his stare.

"I love you, Penny"

"I love you too Sheldon."

Outside on the small side road to the crop fields, Penny's father sighed and shook his head. He was never afraid when he could hear his daughter when she was with a boy; it was when she couldn't be heard that there was a problem. He knew she was married now, but she would always be his little slugger.


	14. Taking Chances

**A song fic based on a prompt by medusa20. I only hope it lives up to their standards and I haven't ruined a great song for them. The song is "Taking Chances" by Celine Dion. It's basically how I think Sheldon would think about his feelings for Penny- by needing prompting and in a thoroughly clinical way. This one was a lot of fun to write because I got to explore Sheldon's smart and witty side in response to the questions. And I apologise to Joseph Gordon Levitt. I do think he's hot, but I suppose Sheldon wouldn't. Hahaha. Enjoy guys. **

**AN: I do not own the song, the characters and I can only say I own half of the idea. The other half belongs to medusa20. **

_Don't know much about your life.  
Don't know much about your world, but  
Don't want to be alone tonight,  
On this planet they call earth._

He was aware that it was quiet. He was aware it was dark, as for anything else, well that required more study.

As he sat up, the snow he found himself lying in was not like he would have expected. It was softer, not icy and it certainly didn't belong in the category of cold. As he scooped a handful up and examined it he had to conclude that this was not regular snow. He stood and dropped the handful of snow in disdain, childhood memories doing nothing to lower his resentment for the semi-frozen water particles.

He looked around the darkness and as his eyes adjusted, he found himself in a clearing, surrounded by pine trees and covered in a thick blanket of snow. But it wasn't cold.

"Hmmm. Curious." He muttered to himself. As he looked skyward, he saw a myriad of constellations dotting the dark sky. Looking towards the North Star, he began to contemplate whether to head in that direction to try and find someone else... A village maybe.

"Hey Sheldon!" A voice that was all too familiar came out from behind a pine tree.

"Penny?"

"Who else would it be?"

"Robert Edwin Peary?"

"Who?"

"Never mind. But maybe you could explain to me where we are?"

"I think you know Sheldon. I mean, we're apparently in the North Pole somewhere and it's not cold."

Sheldon remained silent for a moment. _Drat._

"Penny, am I dreaming?"

"I would hope so Sheldon."

"Why would my psyche drag me out here? And more importantly, with you?"

"Are you holding anything in Sheldon? Anything that has been stressing you out?"

"Penny, my mind is far too advanced for the common thing you call stress."

"Fine, worrying?"

He shot her a look.

"Thinking about?"

He cast his mind back to his life outside this damned arctic purgatory he was currently stuck in.

"I was watching a movie with you... That so called "comedy" you picked."

"'Ten Things I Hate about You' is completely a comedy."

"Yes, with incredibly well vocalised teenagers more intent on sleeping with each other than to further advance their obvious talent for the English language."

"It's a parody of Shakespeare."

"Yes, and I'm sure he's rolling in his grave at the thought of the supposedly "hot"-" he shot Penny a disbelieving look "- Joseph Gordon Levitt as one of the male leads. Bravo."

"Back to the thinking Sheldon. I have places to be."

"Where do you have to be? You're a figment of my psychological mind."

Penny merely stood with her hands on her hips, tapping her foot.

"Ok, ok. When you fell asleep on my shoulder for the umpteenth time, I looked down at you and felt a strange urge of... Protection, one might say. It was strange and worrying at the same time. It was a feeling normally reserved for Meemaw, Mom and Missy."

"I think we're getting close now Sheldon." Penny whispered.

"You don't think...?"

"You know I don't think Sheldon."

"That I know all too well."

"I mean, I'm a figment of your imagination, I only say what you want me to. Tell you what; come for a walk with me. I found this great little spot just behind the trees. A cliff right above the ocean. You'll love it."

"If you are a figment of my imagination, you'll know that's the last place I want to be."

Penny merely grabbed his arm and dragged him off behind the trees.

_You don't know about my past, and  
I don't have a future figured out.  
And maybe this is going too fast.  
And maybe it's not meant to last,_

"Do you ever think that you're meant for something more Sheldon?"

"Yes. A Nobel Prize."

"No, I mean, aside from all that smart guy stuff."

"Well, what other stuff is there?"

She looked out over the cliff out to the stars as she swung her legs back and forth over the edge. The flip flops she was wearing balanced precariously between her toes. She turned back to him.

"A future." He must have looked puzzled, for she continued. "You know... The house with the picket fence, the SUV taking the 2.4 kids to soccer practice on a Saturday morning? The atypical golden retriever dog?"

"Penny, I'm merely going to give you the look I reserve for Wolowitz. The one of haughty derision and exhaustion."

"Sheldon, don't look at me like that."

"I apologise."

For a moment, neither said anything as they stared out into the nothingness.

"Of course I have Penny. But I cannot say I have ever met anyone who has lived up to my standards."

"What standards are those?"

"Someone to challenge me, someone who is aesthetically pleasing but who is still normal enough to not take it for granted, someone interesting in growing as I do. Someone with the same interests." He turned to look at her. "Someone like you Penny."

"Is that why you felt protective of me do you think?"

"Do you mean, I could see you as my mate?"

"Well, not like that obviously."

"I have thought that before and I suppose I will think of it again."

"Before?"

"Yes. Before your ill conceived venture of a relationship with Leonard, I thought you would be better suited to me. I sometimes do think that. However, it has been made abundantly clear to me that it is inappropriate of me to think like that about my room-mates ex girlfriend."

Penny merely smiled at him. A smile that lit up her whole face and sent a warmth through Sheldon's body.

_But what do you say to taking chances,  
What do you say to jumping off the edge?  
Never knowing if there's solid ground below  
Or hand to hold, or hell to pay,  
What do you say,_  
What do you say?

_I just want to start again,  
And maybe you could show me how to try,  
And maybe you could take me in,  
Somewhere underneath your skin?  
_  
_What do you say to taking chances,  
What do you say to jumping off the edge?_

Penny leaned over the edge.

"Jump with me Sheldon." She whispered.

"I'm sorry. What? I must have misheard. I thought you wanted me to jump off this cliff."

"Jump with me. Take the leap."

"Penny, I'm not sure this is safe."

"Don't you think it's time you leapt?"

"I'm waiting for the 'bazinga' here Penny."

"Jump."

"Any minute now."

She stood and slid her shoes off her feet.

"I'm jumping, with or without you."

"Penny, I can't swim."

"Sheldon, it's a dream. You could fly if you wanted to. Now jump!"

She stepped back three steps and gracefully leapt off the edge. A few moments, Sheldon heard a splash.

"Forty feet." He muttered. Looking around the cliff edge, he noticed how bland it was. It was just covered in white snow. Nothing else was here. He looked over the edge and saw nothing but darkness below.

__  
_Never knowing if there's solid ground below  
Or hand to hold, or hell to pay,  
What do you say,  
What do you say?_

And I had my heart beaten down,  
But I always come back for more, yeah.  
There's nothing like love to pull you up,  
When you're laying down on the floor there.  
So talk to me, talk to me,  
Like lovers do.  
Yeah walk with me, walk with me,  
Like lovers do,  
Like lovers do.  


There was nothing else for it. She had left him up here with no way of getting out of this crazy dream. He took three steps backwards, just like she had and ran for the edge.

The first thing he became aware of was that the fall was over relatively quickly.

The second was that the water he had landed in didn't feel like liquid. It felt more like air. It was light and definitely not the cold water his mind had been expecting.

The third is that Penny was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she had swam to shore?

"That is just like Penny." Sheldon seethed. "Make me jump and then not have the courtesy to be down here when I get here?"

Sheldon kicked his legs awkwardly as he kept himself afloat. It may not be a lifeguard regulation swimming style, but it was working. His mind was more preoccupied anyway.

"She made me jump because she said it was time. Time for what? Jumping obviously, but what does the jump signify? Blast you psychology!"

The thought came to him as quickly as he imagined relativity coming to Einstein.

"I need to take the leap with Penny. Penny is the leap!"

As he performed a rather awkward celebratory leap in the water, he became aware that he was not waking up.

"Penny? I want to go home now. Hello? Penny? Penny! Penny! Pen-"

_What do you say to taking chances,  
What do you say to jumping off the edge?  
Never knowing if there's solid ground below  
Or hand to hold, or hell to pay,  
What do you say,  
What do you say?_

Don't know much about your life  
And I don't know much about your world

"Sheldon!"

He awoke with a start. Penny's face was mere inches away from his.

"Penny?" He mumbled.

"Yeah sweetie, it's me. You scared me. Are you ok?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" He replied, sitting up as he rubbed his eyes.

"Well, you were screaming my name in your sleep. It woke me up."

"I apologise. I was having a nightmare. You were there..."

"Oh thanks honey." She replied sarcastically.

"Well, I didn't imply you were the cause of the nightmare so I don't understand why you are offended."

"It's nothing." She rubbed her eyes and Sheldon felt a sudden flip in his stomach. As she yawned, he felt his eyes drawn to her lips.

_A leap huh?_

"I need to do something, so I would appreciate it if you would not resist for a moment Penny."

"... huh?"

He took her moment of confusion to gently cup the sides of her face in his hands. The warmth in her cheeks spread throughout his palms and she closed her eyes.

"Sheldon?" She whispered.

He leant in and gently touched his lips to hers. For a moment, she seems stunned. Then her lips gently move underneath his.

After a second, he pulls away. She looks at him, cross eyed as she tries to focus on the face just an inch from hers.

"What are you doing?"

"Penny. Someone very intelligent once told me to take a leap. And once I figure out whom that truly was, I do believe I owe them something of significant monetary value."


	15. Alejandro

**Hey All. I was supposed to be working on a song prompt by medusa20, but this little plot bunny wouldn't get out of my head. It didn't help that my flatmate was running around in a drunken mood singing it. Set to Alejandro by Lady Gaga. I had to take a little Author's Liberty to shorten the song, as any fan knows, it gets a bit repetitive at the end. **

**I'm worried a few might be OOC, mostly Leonard, because I may have exaggerated him a bit. But hey, everyone loves a good villain, especially Shenny Shippers. Haha. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Alejandro or the BBT. **

_I know that we are young.  
And I know you may love me.  
But I just can't be with you like this anymore.  
Alejandro._

She's got both hands  
in her pocket.  
And she won't look at you,  
Won't look at you

She hides true love  
En su bolsillo.  
She's got a halo 'round her finger.  
Around you.

You know that I love you boy.  
Hot like Mexico, rejoice.  
At this point I gotta choose,  
nothing to lose.

She was checking her mailbox when those all-too-familiar arms wrapped around her from behind.

"Hey you." He whispered, kissing her cheek.

Inside, her stomach dropped and a wave of nausea swept through her. She turned to face him.

"Hey." She smiled. It didn't ease her unease as she hoped it would. As she raised her hand to sweep her fringe aside, the diamond ring adorning her finger glinted in the light. His eyes reacted in a similar way when he saw her wearing it. Triumph.

She stepped back to create some distance and tucked her mail under her arm. Slipping both hands into her pockets, she hid the offending gem from view.

"So," He proposed, stepping forward to open his own mailbox. "What are you doing tonight?"

"Oh, you know, just the usual." She breezed. She slowly edged around him. At that moment, a cool breeze slipped past the door as someone came in from outside.

She turned as a familiar smell reached her. One she remembered so clearly. Fabric softener and baby wipes. Her eyes met his as he placed a foot on the first step. He opened his mouth to say something when Leonard grabbed a hold of her hand... Well, her arm.

_Any piece of me would do for him_, she thought bitterly.

"Hey Sheldon" He greeted, far too cheerfully.

Sheldon's arms gripped his carrier bag tightly. His eyes flashed.

"Leonard. Penny." Penny opened her mouth to say something, but he quickly turned on his heel and climbed the stairs.

"I wonder what's wrong with him." She muttered.

"Oh, they probably got his order wrong." Leonard said dismissively.

_No. It's more than that. _She thought sadly as she pulled her arm from his grip. She knew it.

"Um, I have to go grab some groceries. I'll see you for dinner?"

"Oh... Sure. You don't want someone to come with?"

"No. I mean, it's just a couple things. I won't be long."

Later, as she sat in her car with her hands on the wheel, she thought back to that exchange. She remembered all too clearly the look in Sheldon's eyes. She recognised the look far too easily.

It was the same look she had had when he had briefly dated Amy Farrer Fowler.

As her eyes brimmed with tears, the ring on her finger glinted in the sunlight, mocking her. She remembered the proposal. A restaurant full of people, she could hardly say no. As the other customers had erupted into applause and the hot waiter checked her out, she saw the look in Leonard's eyes that she had seen multiple times in Sheldon's when he beat him at 3-D chess.

Arrogance.

Except on Sheldon, it didn't look so malicious. So egotistical.

And as he had leant in for a kiss and all eyes were on them, she grimaced. Across the room, she had locked eyes on a middle aged woman. The woman had looked truly sorry for her.

And she hadn't known why until now.

__

Don't call my name.  
Don't call my name, Alejandro.  
I'm not your babe.  
I'm not your babe, Fernando.

Don't wanna kiss, don't wanna touch.  
Just smoke one cigarette and hush.  
Don't call my name.  
Don't call my name, Roberto.

Alejandro.  
Alejandro.  
Ale-ale-jandro.  
Ale-ale-jandro. [2x]

(Just stop. Please. Just let me go. Alejandro. Just let me go.)

"Penny! I was getting worried! You said you would only be gone for a couple minutes. It's been an hour!"

"I'm sorry." She muttered. As she leant across the table for her dumpling, her fingertips grazed Sheldon's knee. He jerked it away. Her eyes threatened more tears as he cringed away from her. She didn't need someone cringing away from her now, she needed backup. Backup from her best friend. Someone who truly cared for her the same way she cared for him.

"Sorry? You disappear for an hour and all you have to say is "sorry"?"

"I said I'm sorry!" She yelled. She gestured wildly with her hands, scattering rice across the room. To her right, Raj rose to his feet and made a dash to the bathroom. Howard tried to make himself as small as possible by quietly scoffing his sweet and sour pork.

Leonard sensed he had crossed a line. He seemed to deflate as he took in her expression.

"I'm sorry babe."

Instead of calming her, the pet name that Kurt used to call her caused a wave of fury from deep inside. Kurt used to treat her like a possession. He knew names like that bore a negative association. She stood, rising above him. She walked over to him, like a lioness stalking her prey. Behind her, she heard Sheldon sit up a little straighter and the sound of his container being slid onto the table.

"Do NOT call me babe, Leonard. I'm not just a "babe". I'm a person. I'm smart. Heck, maybe I'm not as smart as Mr. PhD, but I know more about everything that is important than you ever will."

As she stared down at him all Nebraska-style, he didn't even have the tact to look ashamed. He looked... Smug.

_How can he be proud that he's made me furious?_

"Arrrgh!" She screamed in frustration. She slammed down the takeaway container in her hand. Behind them, the sounds of the bathroom door reclosing echoed around the dead silence. Stalking off in the directions of the bedrooms, she heard Leonard muttering.

"Must be women's issues."

Instead of heading straight to the end of the hall, Penny stopped outside of Sheldon's room. She knew it wasn't allowed, but she didn't want to be anywhere near Leonard or Leonard's things at the moment.

The door opened with a click. Quietly slipping inside, she was smothered in the familiar smell of Sheldon.

As she sat on the end of the bed, she tried to breathe deeply, like her old yoga teacher had encouraged her to do. All it did was fill her head with the scent of him and she found herself hugging his pillow as the tears began to fall.

__

She's not broken,  
She's just a baby.  
But her boyfriend's like a dad, just like a dad.  
and all those flames that burned before him.  
Now he's gonna fight your fight, gonna cool the bad.

You know that I love you boy.  
Hot like Mexico, rejoice.  
At this point I gotta choose,  
nothing to lose

Don't call my name.  
Don't call my name, Alejandro.  
I'm not your babe.  
I'm not your babe, Fernando.

"Penny, people aren't supposed to be in my room."

She merely lifted her head from his pillow. Sniffling slightly, she stared through the darkness at the distinct Sheldon shadow in the doorway.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. She knew his Vulcan hearing would hear it.

He stood awkwardly in the doorway for a few moments.

"I'm going to have to wash that now."

The tears simply flowed harder.

She didn't hear him enter or the steps he had taken to get there, but before she knew it, his weight was beside her on the bed, a cautious hand resting on her shoulder.

"There there. Sheldon's here." He whispered.

Sitting up, Penny folded her legs to her chest. Hugging them tightly, she looked at the silhouette that was Sheldon's body.

"I'm such an idiot." She sobbed. His hand, once resting on her shoulder, moved to pull her in closer. As she rested her head on his chest, he rubbed soothing circles on her back.

"I'm getting your shirt all wet." She smiled.

"It's ok. It can be washed with the pillowcase."

Once she felt composed, Penny sat upright. His hand fell limply to his side. Although she couldn't see it, she felt his eyes on her. Piercingly blue, scrutinising her soul.

"I can't do this. I don't love him."

Next to her, Sheldon said nothing.

"It's the constant patronising. The way he shows me off to people as if I'm a trophy. The self gratification from the sex. It's like he's in a relationship with his ego rather than me."

Still, Sheldon said nothing.

"I need to break it off."

"I think you do."

"What?"

"Penny, when you first arrived here you were an uneducated-"

"Hey!"

"Let me finish. When you first arrived here you were an uneducated blonde who cared more for partying than Halo and correct laundry procedures. But now, three and a half years after we first met, you are the person I would call my best friend. I care for you Penny and I will not see you unhappy."

"I love you too Sheldon."

"I did not mean it like that Penny."

Her heart stopped beating.

"You didn't?"

The bed twitched violently. "No."

Penny smiled.

"Liar."

"I did not want my own personal feelings to influence my advice. But if you require the truth, then I can provide it."

She nodded.

"I do see you as a viable mate. You show potential for further education and are the one person who challenges me on a daily basis. You're aesthetically pleasing and although your singing could use a little work, you are quite a good actress." He smiled. "Which I must conclude is the reason Leonard still thinks you have a feasible relationship."

"Sheldon, underneath all those words, are you saying you love me?"

"I believe that is what I'm trying to say, yes. And I will wait Penny."

"For how long?"

"Well, we're at three years, six months, two weeks and four days presently. I think I can double that without any trouble. But whenever you're ready, Penny."

His hand reached for hers hesitantly and gave it a quick squeeze.

__

Don't wanna kiss, don't wanna touch.  
Just smoke my cigarette and hush.  
Don't call my name.  
Don't call my name, Roberto.

Alejandro.  
Alejandro.  
Ale-ale-jandro.  
Ale-ale-jandro. [2x]

Don't bother me.  
Don't bother me. Alejandro  
Don't call my name.  
Don't call my name, Fernando.

I'm not your babe.  
I'm not your babe, Alejandro.

Alejandro.  
Alejandro.  
Ale-ale-jandro.  
Ale-ale-jandro. [2x]

"What the hell is going on?"

"Leonard?"

"Who else would it be? Santa?"

"Well, it's highly unlikely it would be St Nick, Leonard. It's only July."

"Sarcasm Sheldon!"

"Oh."

"I mean, what is going on with you two sitting in the dark? On_ Sheldon's _bed!_" _He flicked on the light. The bright spots disappeared from Penny's vision, but not before Leonard had crossed the room and was standing at the end of the bed.

"Wait, are you accusing me of cheating on you?"

"Occam's Razor suggests so Penny."

"Actually, Occam's razor would suggest I was comforting Penny, Leonard."

"Yeah, wasn't actually looking for your input Sheldon. Well?" He stared at Penny.

Looking down at her hands, which were lying so close to Sheldon's, that god damned ring sparkled at her, taunting her. She reached down and touched it. It was cold and hard. To her right was Sheldon's hand, that moments ago had been so warm and soft.

As she looked back at Leonard, her other hand took the ring from her finger. Grasping it in her palm, she rose. She held out her fist to Leonard.

"You are no different to the Kurt's of my past." She stated through clenched teeth. "I am not your 'babe'." With that, she dropped the ring into his hand. "I'm done."

She stalked the length of the room and disappeared through the door.

"Penny!"

"No, Leonard. Not anymore." She called back.

As Leonard looked at the ring in his hand, then back at Sheldon, he looked just as shocked as he felt on the inside, but something else was there. A look in his eyes.

Triumph.

_Alejandro._


	16. Hero

**Hey all. I cannot believe I haven't written a fic about this song yet! Based on the song "Hero" by Enrique Iglasias. It's such a perfect Shenny song. **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the BBT or its characters, nor this beautiful song. **

_Let me be your hero_

Would you dance, if I asked you to dance?  
Would you run, and never look back?  
Would you cry, if you saw me crying?  
And would you save my soul, tonight?

Sheldon Cooper didn't dance much. As much as his body was be perfect for it and his intense ability to think about his actions caused him to move in perfect synchronism with music, he refused to be in such close proximity to another aerobic individual with its ability to breathe micro-organisms all over his person.

His way of telling people this was also a problem. After he had effectively called someone diseased and dirty, few people hung around long enough to be asked anyway.

But the way Penny was looking at him this evening told him that she wouldn't run if he explained to her how dancing was compromising his immune system. She would laugh with that illuminating smile she reserved just for him and take him by the hand (against his protests), drag him to the middle of the floor and wrap her arms around his neck.

His favourite part was when she rested her head against his chest. The smell of her hair was within perfect range for gentle wafts of vanilla and jasmine to reach him, causing him to sigh contently and her smile to widen against the fabric of his shirt.

Who would have thought that tonight, Sheldon Cooper, PhD would willingly asked Penny to join him on the dance floor.

__

Would you tremble, if I touched your lips?  
Would you laugh? Oh please tell me this  
Now would you die, for the one you love?  
Hold me in your arms, tonight

I can be your hero, baby  
I can kiss away the pain  
I will stand by you forever  
You can take my breath away

Penny had always been an affectionate person. Hugs were her way of saying hello and goodbye; of expressing happiness and sadness. She couldn't ever understand how someone couldn't grasp the basic function of a hug or a kiss.

Sheldon was a mystery to her. Basic displays of affection were met with the cold stiffness of resistance, gentle grazes on the couch resulted in sterilisation of all areas in the immediate vicinity.

She didn't want to admit it, but sometimes it hurt. Sheldon was her best friend; the person who she told everything to. The one who offered advice (condescendingly and in a way that always left her confused, it was true), real advice that could help her.

But the way that Sheldon was looking at her tonight told her that any kinds of affection would be appropriate. He would bear with her as she grabbed at his arm and pulled him close, pressing her body against the long length of his, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his soft chapsticked ones. He didn't like to admit it, but Penny knew that if he allowed her to kiss him, she would feel the trembling deep in his chest, in perfect synchrony to hers. He would pull away and laugh his breathy laugh as his face coloured and flushed with heat.

Who would have thought that tonight would be the night that Penny will be able to kiss Sheldon Cooper in public.

__

Would you swear, that you'll always be mine?  
Or would you lie? Would you run and hide?  
Am I in too deep? Have I lost my mind?  
I don't care you're here, tonight

I can be your hero, baby  
I can kiss away the pain  
I will stand by you forever  
You can take my breath away

She had forbid any reference to coitus, to Star Trek and Marvel Comics. But even Penny couldn't believe the way Sheldon Cooper could meld words into sentences that could bring people to tears.

A voice which was once so clinical and scientific sounded warm and caring as he promised to love her for the rest of his life. And just once, she was sure of it, she had heard a catching in his throat as he swore to be her Superhero (an apparent loophole in her terms and conditions) and to protect her from anyone who wished to do her harm.

When it was Penny's turn and she saw him anxiously look into the crowd, which was larger than 36 adults or 70 children and sigh with relief, she gently squeezed his forearm and looked into his eyes. With no thoughts of backing out, she began swearing to love him forever, to cherish him for every moment and to not censor his choice of television shows or routines.

When the minister finally declared them man and wife, the non-joker smile Penny was so fond of found its way onto his face as he pulled her in and kissed her.

__

Oh, I just wanna hold you  
I just wanna hold you, oh yeah  
Am I in too deep? Have I lost my mind?  
Well I don't care you're here, tonight

I can be your hero, baby  
I can kiss away the pain, oh yeah  
I will stand by you forever  
You can take my breath away

I can be your hero, I can kiss away the pain  
(I can be your hero, baby)  
And I will stand by you, forever  
You can take my breath away  
You can take my breath away  
An' I can be your hero

Later that evening at the reception Penny looked around the room. She saw Howard cracking onto her friend (yes, the one who did anything after some tequila), Raj ordering his sixth grasshopper from the bar and Leonard in deep conversation with Stephanie in the courtyard outside. As she scanned the room for her new husband, she saw him in the middle of the dance floor. He turned to the DJ and gave him a small nod. He held out his hand as their song started playing. As people filtered into the room and made them a small circle, Penny made her way over to him and took his hand in hers. As they stepped into the embrace and the tempo of the slow song, Penny looked up at Sheldon and leant up for a kiss.

It may have been a chaste kiss on the lips, but considering the personal boundaries they had endured since they met; a small kiss whilst dancing in front of large enough crowd to trample them was a milestone and a half.

For anyone but a Superhero and his sidekick.


	17. Orange Sky

**Hey guys, just a small fic this time. It was basically written as an excuse not to write my essay for class- I mean, this is sooo much nicer than writing about terrorists, am I right? **

**I am aware that the setting doesn't quite fit, but I placed it here for the metaphors. And I apologise in advance for how descriptive it is. There are a lot of adjectives. Apparently it's quite Emerson, but I was in a weird mood when I wrote this one. **

**The basic premise is the relationship between Sheldon and Missy with Penny overtones, because everyone knows that while Sheldon is the academically smarter of the two, Missy sure knows what she's talking about with life. **

**Set to the song "Orange Sky" by Alexi Murdoch (I had to edit it a bit. It was mainly removing verses, but I took artistic licence). **

**I don't own Sheldon, Missy or Penny or the song. **

_And I had a dream  
I stood beneath an orange sky  
With my sister standing by  
With my sister standing by _

The stone was weighty in his hand as he tossed it up into the air. When it landed back in his palm, he flipped it between his fingers, feeling the polished surface against the small calluses on his skin.

He jumped a little when a hand, small and delicate, was placed onto his lower back. He had assumed he was quite alone.

"You ok, Shelly?"

He sighed. The twang in his sister's voice was the most calming thing in the world to him. It reminded him of home. But as he looked out over the lake to the sunset, there was a twinge of pain in his chest, tightness. With home came the association of Penny.

After all, he had brought her home to meet his family. She was family now.

As the sun sank lower spreading the colours of autumn all through the sky and staining everything a burnt orange, he closed his eyes, feeling the last of the warmth from the sun for that day.

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to love her like she deserves." He mumbled. He stared at the rock before he flicked it out of his hand with the speed of a whip. It bounced six times across the surface of the lake before it disappeared into its depths. The ripples stretched out across the glassy surface before they dissipated a good three feet from the water's edge.

_I said Sister, here is what I know now  
Here is what I know now  
Goes like this...  
In your love, my salvation lies  
In your love, my salvation lies  
In your love, my salvation lies  
In your love, in your love, in your love_

But sister you know I'm so weary  
And you know sister  
My hearts been broken  
Sometimes, sometimes  
My mind is too strong to carry on  
Too strong to carry on 

Missy stepped forward into the shallows of the water, playfully digging up the dirt with her toes. The water clouded as she stirred it with her feet, forming perfect figure eight patters.

"Why cloud perfectly clear water, Shelly?" She said, smiling.

"I don't understand what you mean. I never understand what you mean." He sighed. He bent gently and picked up another stone close to his feet.

"For a rocket scientist, you sure don't know much about life."

"I'm not a rocket scientist" He replied, staring at her with a face full of indignation.

"Either way, you still don't know much about the important things. Dad used to say that all the time."

"Well excuse me if I don't take advice from someone with an eighth grade level of education."

"That's not the point Shelly."

"What is it then?"

"You over think everything in life, since you were little. Remember when you picked that perfect spot for your high chair when you were 2? Life isn't always going to let you have that time to think through it all. Sometimes you have to go with what you've got and hope you're making the right decision."

"What's the right decision when it comes to Penny?"

"You're actually asking my advice, Shelly Belly?"

"Don't call me that. And yes."

Missy bent down and picked up her shoes, turned to face Sheldon and placed and hand on his face.

"I think the path has already been set for you." She said, as she pointed just over his shoulder. Sheldon turned just as he saw Penny walking up behind him. He spun back to face Missy.

"I don't know what to tell her."

"Tell her what you're feeling. Not what you're thinking." She smiled. As she walked off, Sheldon could hear her greeting Penny. After she had passed her, she looked over her shoulder at him. A quick thumbs up and she was gone.

_When I am alone  
When I've thrown off the weight of this crazy stone  
When I've lost all care for the things I own  
That's when I miss you, that's when I miss you, that's when I miss you  
You are my home  
You are my home  
And here is what I know now  
Here is what I know now  
Goes like this..  
In your love, my salvation lies  
In your love, my salvation lies  
In your love, my salvation lies  
In your love, my salvation lies  
In your love, my salvation lies  
In your love, my salvation lies  
In your love, my salvation lies  
In your love, in your love, in your love_

"Hi." She greeted him as she came to a stop just before the water's edge. He skipped the new rock across the surface, five times this time. The ripples were smaller, more delicate. He turned to face her. She had her eyes closed, her hands in her pockets.

Swallowing his nervousness, he tucked his own hands into his pockets and leant in, kissing her gently on the cheek. Her eyes fluttered open at once.

"I love you Penny." He said simply.

She smiled, illuminating the growing darkness of the sky and pulled her hands from her pockets, wrapping them around his neck. She leant into his chest, her breathing soft and warm against his many layered t-shirts.

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to give you what you need and want in terms of affection," he whispered into her hair. "But you can guarantee I will be there to try and give it everything I have. I've never felt this way before Penny."

She raised her head to stare him in the eyes.

"This is enough for me." She smiled as she leant in for another kiss.

Behind them, the last of the sun sank below the horizon sending the orange sky dark with a smattering of stars.


	18. Airplanes

**AN: Just a small drabble this time, based on one of my favourite songs at the moment, "Airplanes" by BoB and Hayley Williams. Just based off the one verse. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

_Can we pretend that airplanes  
In the night sky  
Are like shooting stars  
I could really use a wish right now  
Wish right now, wish right now  
Can we pretend that airplanes  
In the night sky  
Are like shooting stars  
I could really use a wish right now  
Wish right now, Wish right now_

Penny never thought she would want to turn away from everything she had worked for. That big break had changed her entire world. A simple audition for a big toothpaste commercial had seen her sitting outside in the rain, with tears streaming down her face, disillusioned and rejected.

Who would have thought that would be the moment she was "spotted".

Less than a month later she was in New York filming her first feature film. She wasn't the lead, but the best friend role was just as good. She had her own storyline, her own cute co-star and the opportunity to grow from it.

But every day as she woke up alone, awaking from the same agonising dream (_or was it a memory_?) of when she said goodbye to Sheldon and she had seen his blue eyes water and his eyes twitch furiously... She shook her head to clear it, but her arms ached to hug him like that again.

He had held her to him, pulling her closer than she had ever been to him before. His head had rested on the top of hers as he breathed in her smell, and unbeknownst to him, she was doing the same with his shirt.

A tear fell down her cheek as she looked at the calendar, counting the days until she could go back to Pasadena, her airplane tickets pinned to the wall beside it.

Back in Pasadena, Sheldon Cooper took a trip up to the roof that night. As he sat in his old lawn chair in the roof's perfect spot (_not too close to the edge, but not far enough back to prevent viewing of most of the street lights, just behind an airconditioning unit to prevent draughts, but not too close as to get the full blast of hot air, just under a small eave so as to provide some darkness to star gazing but not far enough under that you couldn't see directly above you) _he stared into the night sky and watched as airplane after airplane flew over him. His sister had told him when they were younger that if you saw a shooting star and wished upon it, your wish could come true.

He hadn't believed in any of the superstitious hokum before, but he was willing to try anything to get Penny home early, even if it meant staying out here all night waiting for a genuine shooting star.


	19. He Lives in You

**Hey guys, here is a little "Have a Wonderful Weekend Present". A small drabble fic set to the song "He Lives in You" from The Lion King II. Yes, I was watching Disney movies prior to writing this. A small amount of author's liberty was exercised here in slight altering of the song. **

**The basic synopsis is Sheldon's thoughts about his father. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anybody.. Well, I do, but you'll recognise them. Definitely not any of Chuck Lorre's characters, or the song. That belongs to Disney. And I'm rambling...**

_Night  
And the spirit of life  
Calling_

_Oh, oh, iyo, Mamela [Listen], Oh, oh, iyo_

_And a voice  
With the fear of a child  
Answers_

Sheldon Cooper didn't have many nice things to say about his father.

He was an uneducated drunk man who was often violent to his wife. And ever since he was 8 years old, Sheldon had vowed never to become like him.

His father had died when Sheldon was only a teenager and his mother had fretted that no one would be there to give him guidance.

_What difference does it make? _He had thought bitterly as he stared around the room at the wake. _He was never there to teach me things when he was alive. _

And so he had made do, watching how men interacted on his television shows, occasionally googling things he wasn't familiar with.

But for all his efforts back then the guys all thought he was like a robot, unfeeling and uncaring. The fact of the matter was, he just never allowed himself to get angry or frustrated for fear of it consuming him like it did his father.

It was also why he never drank; the only exception was the times when Penny was involved (she thought he didn't know about those Virgin Cuba Libres that had looser morals than virgins ought to have or the Chancellors Award fiasco in which he returned home without pants). He had toasted their wedding with lemonade to be sure.

_He lives in you  
He lives in me  
He watches over  
Everything we see  
Into the water  
Into the truth  
In your reflection  
He lives in you_

But now, as he looked at his newborn son whilst Penny slept, he noticed features that were so similar to a ghost of his past. The eyes, mirror copies of his, stared intently back, blue into blue. Sheldon blinked and swallowed hard.

Penny would say that his father's eyes were watching from beyond the grave. After all, Sheldon had inherited them from somewhere. He shook his head slightly and bent down to pick up his son. He squirmed in Sheldon's large capable hands, differing only from his father's by its lack of calluses indicative of a life of hard work on the land.

As Penny stirred in the hospital bed and slowly opened her eyes, she smiled at the sight of her husband- cool, calculating, Homo Novus- sitting in the small armchair with his son, rocking him back and forth. She knew of Sheldon's fears about becoming his father and she will always remember the look on his face the first time he held him, as he recognised features on his tiny face that he hadn't seen in 20 years. Panic and worry.

But as she looked at him now, she knew he didn't have anything to fear. Mary had told her of how George had been that way with Sheldon out of apprehension and concern that his son, gentle and slight, wouldn't be able to cope on his own.

She saw the tiny part of George in Sheldon that Mary was always so fond of. As she looked at her son, Isaac George Cooper, a mirror copy of his father and his father before that in the arms of Sheldon as he gently spoke to him in Latin, she sighed.

As she rose out of bed to stand beside Sheldon, two sets of identical blue eyes looked into her green ones.

"He lives in you, you know." She whispered as she kissed Sheldon on the head.


	20. Strangers Like Me

**Before I post this next time, I need to be reminded to add a Authors Note. Looks like this fatigue is finally getting the better of me. Oh well, regardless, this little drabble is posted and probably not my best work, so I can see it being removed and edited further. But I apologise in advance. **

**Shame really, coz it's a great Sheldon Song. It's based on the Phil Collins song "Strangers like Me". I don't own any of this song, nor the characters. **

**I hope you enjoy. :)**

_Whatever you do, I'll do it too_  
_Show me everything and tell me how_  
_It all means something_  
_And yet nothing to me_

_I can see there's so much to learn_  
_It's all so close and yet so far_  
_I see myself as people see me_  
_Oh, I just know there's something_  
_bigger out there_

Social Experience #3784 – The Hug.

"Penny, I'm unaware of how long the duration of this hug should last". She stepped back from me and smiled. She was still looking at me as I tilted my head to the side in an attempt to wrestle an answer out of her confusing mind.

"About that long" she replied, the smile still playing at her lips.

As she walked off to the kitchen to retrieve some plates, I sat down in my spot and began to pull the takeout containers out of the collective box.

As she turned back to me, her arms full and smiled again, I was unsure of what to do. She had expressed her gratitude for my shouting her dinner with the hug, was there another social protocol I needed to fulfil?

I was spared having to ask by Leonard, Raj and Howard entering the apartment. They appeared to be arguing about whether it was unacceptable for Howard to chase a woman down the street to ask her what her bra size was.

Penny merely screwed her face up in disgust and handed out the plates. As she rolled her eyes at Howard then turned and winked at me, I found myself taken aback. She sat next to me every time she was in the apartment, but this time, I found myself acutely aware of her body so close to mine.

As I divided up the dumplings, I, Sheldon Cooper PhD, wondered if I would ever understand the human race.

_I wanna know, can you show me_  
_I wanna know about these_  
_strangers like me_  
_Tell me more, please show me_  
_Something's familiar about these strangers like me_

Dear Diary:

I wasn't born stupid. But then again, I wasn't born smart either. Sheldon believes we're all born with our IQ at a certain level, some higher than others and what happens after that depends on the final level.

It's harder for me to understand what goes on inside his head than some of the stuff the guys talk about. I mean, they invented Google for a reason right? Sheldon is someone I don't think Google would ever be able to figure out. There isn't a search engine in the world big enough.

But he's learning. It's something I have to commend him for, I mean, he tries so hard to fit into normal society and all the guys can do is pay him out for it. They don't point out the fact that I'm really the odd one out. I mean, they're all PhD's (well, besides Howard) and I'm just an aspiring actress from Nebraska.

But I think I'm willing to learn some more, which is why I'm going to ask Sheldon to start taking me places where I can get taught some stuff about the whole world. He's going to smile that haughty derision smile he has down, but with enough pleading he'll give in.

And if he doesn't, I'm going to tell him it's a non-optional social convention.

Penny.

_Every gesture, every move that she makes_  
_Makes me feel like never before_  
_Why do I have_  
_This growing need to be beside her_

_Ooo, these emotions I never knew_  
_Of some other world far beyond this place_  
_Beyond the trees, above the clouds_  
_I see before me a new horizon_

Social Experience #3923 – The Negotiations

"Please Sheldon?"

"Penny, I can think of a hundred things I would rather be doing on a Saturday."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"One: Re-watching season 2 of Star Trek. Two: Reformatting my computer. Three: Conducting research to further the scientific field of which I am a pioneer. Four-"

"Ok, ok, I get it. But don't you think it's better to educate someone with your spare time than spend it on your own?"

"No. I quite enjoy my own company."

"Sheldon, it's a non optional social convention." She looked far too smug.

"Oh, very well. But I have rules."

She sighed audibly. My past experiences tell me that my conditions will be met when she does this, but I decide not to push it too far. She does still own my mother's telephone number.

"I get to pick where we go and when. When I lecture you, you must not interrupt and you will be required to sit a test when we get back."

She stared at me blankly and then closed her eyes and sighed again. Success.

_I wanna know, can you show me_  
_I wanna know about these strangers like me_  
_Tell me more, please show me_  
_Something's familiar about these strangers like me_

_Come with me now to see my world_  
_Where there's beauty beyond your dreams_  
_Can you feel the things I feel_  
_Right now, with you_  
_Take my hand_  
_There's a world I need to know_

Social Experience #4592 – The Mind Blank

As Penny lay on the chairs in the Planetarium and watched the Solar System above her, I couldn't stop staring at her.

She had that look in her eyes. The look of absolute amazement that I used to have, the innocence and naivety. She looked away from Saturn long enough to look at me and smile and I wouldn't have been able to believe there could be a difference in smiles which were only a few days apart had I not seen them with my own eyes.

The smile she had expressed on Thursday when I had given her dinner was one of gratitude. This one was of the same, but there was something more in there. But it could have been the way my stomach flipped when her eyes met mine (which could have possibly been the nachos we had for lunch- I had told Penny not to eat from there) that changed it.

The afternoon did not finish there of course. After the tour of the solar system, we visited the museum to see the dinosaurs. For something that I found as "cool", although not as impressively large as planets, I found that Penny was, in fact, more interested in the fossils.

The human race continued to baffle me as night took over and I insisted that we visit the observatory to finish the evening. She seemed like she was genuinely enjoying the experience. I had to remind myself several times that this was the same Penny who regularly bought 12 pairs of shoes in one internet shopping marathon.

As Penny sat on the stool next to the telescope and waited patiently for me to focus it correctly, the scent of her perfume (now confirmed as a mixture of honeysuckle and vanilla) overwhelmed my senses. Her breath was near my ear as I leant over her shoulder and peered into the eyepiece.

Then without my consent or knowledge, she leant in close and gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you." She whispered. I turned towards her to find her mere inches from my face.

"For what?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

"Everything." She smiled. I cleared my throat.

"You're welcome." Peering down the eyepiece one more time, I was satisfied that it was correctly focused. "It's ready."

As I stepped away to allow her room to move forward, she peered intently into the telescope and, again without warning, clasped my fingers in hers. Even more strange was the fact I didn't pull away, nor was my first thought about the microorganisms now migrating between our hands. My first thought was... Nothing. For the first time in my 27 years, I had no thoughts, no conscious ideas, nothing. It was a moment of a pure blank mind.

As she shifted on the stool and brought my attention back to her, I realised I was holding hands with Penny. And that nacho feeling was back.

EDIT: After two days of careful consideration, no sleep, three whiteboards and some whiplash, I have come to the conclusion that the nacho feeling I have when I am around Penny is not one of food poisoning (although I still doubt the cleanliness of that van), but one of budding emotional connections. Summed up, I have to theorise that I have feelings for Penny.

And that I will never understand human beings.

_I wanna know, can you show me_  
_I wanna know about these strangers like me_  
_Tell me more, please show me_  
_Something's familiar about these strangers like me_

_... I wanna know_

Dear Diary:

I like Sheldon.

Penny.


	21. In the Arms of the Angels

**Hey guys. Bit of an angsty/sad one this time around, as requested by EtherealDemon (although not the killing of Leonard part. As much as I'm a Shenny Shipper, I would feel eternally guilty for killing him off). There is a bit of death in here and it deals with something that I personally hope to never go through. I only hope I've done it justice. **

**Based on the song: In the Arms of the Angels by Sarah McLaughlin. **

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own the song or the characters. **

_Spend all your time waiting for that second chance  
For the break that will make it ok  
There's always some reason to feel not good enough  
And it's hard at the end of the day  
I need some distraction oh beautiful release  
Memories seep from my veins  
They may be empty and weightless and maybe  
I'll find some peace tonight _

She hadn't moved for hours. The moonlight seeping through the windows was the only light source in the room that was foreign to her. The dank motel room on the edge of the freeway hadn't been where she was headed, but it was better than being back home right now with everything that reminded her of him.

Her stomach growled loudly, but she didn't even blink.

Nothing mattered anymore.

Beside her, her phone buzzed on the table for the umpteenth time that day. Going against every screaming instinct from inside her to ignore it, she reached out and clumsily grabbed at it. Glancing at the display, she saw Leonard's name. Instead of filling her with a comfort, it merely infuriated her further. She knew that this wasn't his fault, but the need to blame someone was insatiable.

Throwing the phone across the room brought with it the satisfying smashing sound as it shattered into the separate pieces. Again, she was alone.

She closed her tired eyes as tears once again threatened to break free. Fighting back the burning in her throat that told her sobbing was imminent, she grasped at the pillow by her head that still smelt like him. It was a smell so similar to Sheldon's, except with the smell of infancy lingering.

In that moment, she wished she hadn't broken her phone. She needed to hear Sheldon's voice, to let him know she was ok, but that she needed this time alone to deal with everything. She was supposed to be the strong one.

_But how could you be strong when inside you're dying? _

In the arms of an Angel fly away from here  
From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear  
You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie  
You're in the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort

Back in Pasadena, Sheldon opened their son's bedroom door silently.

The room was exactly the same as it had been on the worst night of Sheldon's life. It was supposed to be a happy occasion. He had a son with the woman he had just proposed to, but a part of him always wondered if they hadn't left Isaac with Leonard that night...

As he slowly walked into the room, he found himself drawn to the cot. Resting his hands on the side, he glanced inside. The small Spiderman plushie their son Isaac had loved so much was covered with the blankets, which were still torn aside the way Sheldon had left them as he pulled his son out and called out for Penny.

Raising his eyes to the roof to fight the watering that were turning blue eyes grey, he cleared his throat. The logical part of his brain knew it wasn't Leonard's fault. The emotional side just wanted his son back.

Eidetic memory or not, he was sure he would never would be able to forget finding his son like that. The doctors had called it SIDS, but no conclusion or diagnosis would ever be able to bring him back, or help him heal Penny's broken heart.

_So tired of the straight line, and everywhere you turn_  
_There's vultures and thieves at your back_  
_The storm keeps on twisting, you keep on building the lies_  
_That you make up for all that you lack_  
_It don't make no difference, escaping one last time_  
_It's easier to believe_  
_In this sweet madness, oh this glorious sadness_  
_That brings me to my knees_

It was the sunlight that awoke Penny the next morning. Unable to know neither how long she had been sleeping, nor what time it was since she had destroyed her phone, she merely lay on her back and stared at the ceiling.

Wiping away the last of the tears she hoped would be the last for a while; she sat up and grabbed her keys. It was time to head home. To Sheldon.

To everything that was awaiting for her.

Her first lie of the day was to the guy at the checkout counter. A simple question of "How are you today?" seemed so thoroughly impossible to answer, but she had smiled, thanked the man and said "fine". She wondered how many times ahead she would be asked such a question and sadness engulfed her as she realised it would be the first question of many for a long time to come.

The ride home was just as painful. The last few belongings of Isaac's she hadn't yet collected and boxed up littered the backseat. His baby seat sat empty, a pacifier just to its left. On the foot-well of the passenger's side, she could see a tiny foot of a baby-grow poking out. The last few corners before the apartment block came all too quickly and as she pulled into her car parking spot, she saw something that made her feel comforted for the first time in days.

Sheldon was sitting on the steps of the front door, his head in his hands. Between his feet was a baby monitor, a present from Raj and Howard when they found out they were expecting.

As Penny approached, his head shot up and his eyes fixed with hers. The blue were tinged with red and puffy. No doubt they looked just like her green ones.

She sat down without saying a word and just rested her head on his shoulder. He swallowed hard, but said nothing. Wrapping one arm around her waist and pulling her in, he rested his cheek on the top of her head. Her hand clasped at his spare one and squeezed it tight, her engagement ring cutting into her fingers.

He cleared his throat.

"I just keep expecting to hear him on this." He gestured at the monitor with their clasped hands. "And then I remember that I won't... He won't..." He cleared his throat again.

She pulled her head from his shoulder and kissed it.

"I know exactly what you mean".

With what seemed to be a deliberate motion, Sheldon slowly reached down for the monitor and turned it off. Looking at Penny, he pulled her in close to his chest and kissed her head.

Grasped against her husband's Spiderman shirt, Penny sobbed as his hands rubbed soothing circles onto her back.

_In the arms of an Angel far away from here_  
_From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear_  
_You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie_  
_In the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here_

_You're in the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here_

Six months later, Penny was looking at the pregnancy kit in the bathroom, crying softly to herself.

The small positive sign seemed to be mocking her with its boldness. She perched on the edge of the bath and tried to stem the flow of tears. Swallowing, she rose to the sink and gently flushed her face with water. The effect was instant. Drying her face, she headed to the door to tell Sheldon.

As she carried the offensive item to the lounge room where Sheldon was sat nervously twitching and twiddling his thumbs, her heart was pounding. She stood in the hall entry and cleared her throat.

"I'm pregnant." She smiled, nervously.

Sheldon appeared to pale instantly. His eyes widened. Then he smiled. A genuine, happy smile.

Rising in a fluid motion- that only Sheldon was capable of- he quickly crossed the room and pulled her in for a hug.

Under his arm, Penny spied the last, and only, family portrait they had with Isaac. It had been the first day he had smiled and as her eyes pricked and burned.

_I love you and I'll never forget you._ _Ever. _


	22. Never Alone

**Heya guys. Small drabble fic that does involve some character death, so sorry about that. I've been meaning to get away from the angsty ones, but they just keep on-a forming in my scary little mind. Anyways, this one is based off of a song called "Never Alone" by BarlowGirl. I know I normally encourage you to listen to songs, but this one is a really amazing song. Check it out on YouTube sometime. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, besides the plot bunny that's been in my mind for days. **

_I waited for you today  
But you didn't show  
No no no  
I needed You today  
So where did You go?  
You told me to call  
Said You'd be there  
And though I haven't seen You  
Are You still there?_

She knew it was irrational, but it didn't stop her from feeling the way she did.

As she lay down to sleep, far later than was usual, her eyes threatened with tears that she knew he wouldn't want her to cry.

"Now, now." He would have tutted. "There is no point in crying and maudlin displays of affection."

As she smiled a weak smile at the thought of him sitting in his spot, with that silly exhausted and at the same time amused expression on his face, she reached over to his side of the bed, cold and unslept in and grasped at his pillow to feel something other than the empty arms that had haunted her for the last few nights.

__

I cried out with no reply  
And I can't feel You by my side  
So I'll hold tight to what I know  
You're here and I'm never alone

And though I cannot see You  
And I can't explain why  
Such a deep, deep reassurance  
You've placed in my life

As she awoke the next morning, it took a moment for her to realise why she had unshed tears in her eyes.

Abruptly, she sat up.

"Sheldon?" She whispered tentatively. A singular tear slid down her cheek at the silence that answered her. Looking around the bedroom, his blue eyes shone down on her from portraits on every flat surface, on every wall.

A wedding photo, the photo of their children's births, their children's graduations, Sheldon's Nobel Prize ceremony... In the corner of the room sat a whiteboard of his equations, half finished and in exactly the same troublesome spot that he had been trying to crack. It was the last thing he had worked on, the last piece of his latest research.

A wail escaped her throat and she fell back on the sheets, the grief overwhelming her.

For thirty years, he had been her everything. Her life, her soul. It wasn't surprising that his death would consume her as well.

__

We cannot separate  
'Cause You're part of me  
And though You're invisible  
I'll trust the unseen

_[Chorus]___

We cannot separate  
You're part of me  
And though You're invisible  
I'll trust the unseen

_[Chorus]_

She wasn't aware of how long she had been like that, collapsed around his pillow which still smelt like him, her tears running steady courses along her skin.

"I love you." She whispered.

Then softly, so softly she was sure she had imagined it, hands as gentle as the breeze pulled her hair away from her neck. A gentle kiss, lighter than a feather grazed her cheek.

"I will always love you Penny. Forever."

She sat up at the sound of the voice, so clear she was sure he was in the room. Her eyes dragged across the whiteboard and there, as clear as the previous equations on it, was a small red heart, drawn with Sheldon-like precision in the top left hand corner that Penny was sure hadn't been there the night before.

"Forever." She whispered.


	23. Half of My Heart

**Heya guys- heres another one (two chapters in the one day!). This one begins AU, but finishes with the Penny/Sheldon dynamic we all love. Set to "Half of My Heart" by John Mayer, ft Taylor Swift. Not as angsty as the last couple I've done, so it should be a good change. **

**Disclaimer: I own no characters nor any lyrics. If I did, I wouldn't be a poor uni student. **

_I was born in the arms of imaginary friends  
Free to roam, made a home out of everywhere I've been  
Then you come crashing in, like the realest thing  
Trying my best to understand all that your love can bring_

He was 12 when she moved in, just about to head off to college and get out of the tiny trailer park that had contained his genius since he was old enough to understand it. She was ten and more of a boy than he was. He seemed to lose count of the times he would watch her from the tiny window of his room, playing some form of sports with her father while he called her "Slugger".

Her blonde hair was flattened and squeezed under the blue baseball cap she wore backwards, her oversized football jersey which looked like a dress was probably the only feminine part of her outfit. Of her in general, he corrected himself.

Except for her laugh. High pitched and easily irritating, he knew it was a sound he would never forget. The peals would sound over the crows as they disturbed his study for the umpteenth time. Not that he could really study in the middle of summer anyway, the heat was unbearable in the house and with his mother preparing roasts practically every day, he found solace under the large oak tree by the entrance. It was the same one he had taken refuge from a rather contentious chicken that one time.

It was there that he first encountered how unbelievably preppy and naive this girl was.

He had been sitting there with a large book, half paying attention to the page and half paying attention to the chicken which was slyly eyeing him off from across the street when the baseball had rolled within a foot of him. He tore his eyes from the book and looked up.

She was standing a good 15 feet from him.

"Hey! Can you throw my ball back?" She yelled.

He eyed the ball up. It was obviously old, the seams were all worn and the leather all cracked. There was obviously a myriad of diseases on it and he crinkled up his nose in distaste.

"Hey, mister!" She yelled again, this time louder. "The ball? Can you throw it back please?"

He stood, carefully noting the page number in his book and closing it, and gingerly picked up the ball between his thumb and forefinger. A quick calculation in his head and he sent it flying through the air, landing neatly in her pitchers mitt.

"Nice toss!" She shouted in his direction as she tore off towards her father.

As he watched her run and send the ball flying into his hand with the resultant "_thwack" _reaching even his ears, he shook his head and reopened his book, reasserting in his mind that he would never understand girls.

__

Oh, half of my heart's got a grip on the situation  
Half of my heart takes time  
Half of my heart's got a right mind to tell you  
That I can't keep loving you  
Oh, with half of my heart

I was made to believe I'd never love somebody else  
I made a plan, stay the man who can only love himself  
Lonely was the song I sang, 'til the day you came  
Showing me a better way and all that my love can bring

It was the hottest summer on record that year. Even to his own father's displeasure, he spent most of it on the roof, documenting the movement of the constellations and the planets. His mother made excuses for him as usual, his sister picked on him as usual and his brother chose in part to ignore him as much as he could. As usual.

The only variable to his constant routine was her.

It was inevitable that one night (as she had seen him climb up there for the past three nights in a row, from her spot by her window); she clambered up the side of the house and sat next to him without uttering a word. She merely looked over his shoulder and wordlessly mouthed the names of the stars he had jotted down first to act as markers for the others. He licked his lips and swallowed hard at the sound of her Nebraskan accent stumbling over words that were new and foreign to her.

He turned to face her and did a double take when he saw her.

"You are aware you're wearing a dress, correct?"

"Yep" She said, leaning back on both hands to stare at the sky. "My dad has decided it's time I became a girl"

He was silent for a moment.

"Why are you telling me this? I didn't ask any questions, nor prompt you in any way. I haven't displayed any interest in this topic of conversation."

She turned to face him again; strands of straw coloured hair blew across her face in the warm breeze.

"You sure do talk funny"

"So do you" He bent his head back over his paper and gently drew in Alpha Centauri.

"What do you do up here? Besides draw dots on paper?" She was leaning in close again and he could smell strawberry shampoo from the stands of her hair still blowing loose.

"I'm not drawing dots. I'm mapping constellations and planetary movements."

"Why?"

"To see if there is anything I can discover out there. I'm going to win a Nobel Prize one day."

"What's a Nobel Prize?"

"It is an award given to someone outstanding in their field. One day, the name Sheldon Lee Cooper, PhD is going to be a name remembered in text books and journals and encyclopedias."

"Sheldon? That's your name?"

"Yes."

"My name is Penny."

"Oh. I see. I'll play along. Hi Penny. It's very nice to meet you."

"You too." She was silent for a moment. "Can you teach me about the stars Sheldon?"

He sighed and looked down at his half finished map. It clearly wasn't going to be completed tonight. But when he turned and looked at her, blonde hair free (for once not hidden under that germ ridden hat) and in an actual dress, not just an oversized jersey, it took him for once in his life how someone of the opposite sex could be perceived as beautiful. She smiled at him as he set down the paper and inched closer to her. Pointing his long fingers towards the heavens, he began telling her of the stars, tracing out the constellations with imaginary lines. Every now and then, she would repeat the names, re-trace the lines and whisper words of astonishment and he would feel a rather new and unexpected feeling in his stomach.

Warmth, excitement and the ever present fear.

__

Oh, half of my heart's got a grip on the situation  
Half of my heart takes time  
Half of my heart's got a right mind to tell you  
That I can't keep loving you  
Oh, with half of my heart  
With half of my heart

Your faith is strong  
But I can only fall short for so long  
Time will hold, later on  
You will hate that I never gave more to you than half of my heart  
But I can't stop loving you  
But I can't stop loving you  
But I can't stop loving you with half of my...

Half of my heart  
Half of my heart

half of my heart's got a real good imagination  
half of my heart's got you  
half of my heart's got a right mind to tell you  
that half of my heart won't do

"Will you write me?"

"If I'm not too busy. I do have work to do you know."

"Will you send me star maps?"

"It's going to start getting cold, and with my body mass and susceptibility to illness, I doubt I'll be able to go outside to draw you star maps." He regretted his words as soon as he saw her shoulders slump and disappointment cross her face. "But I'll try." He added quickly.

She smiled and for the first time in his life, Sheldon Lee Cooper didn't want to leave the trailer park.

"Shelly!" His mother called. "Time to go!"

"I guess this is it." She said. She held open her arms, clearly for a hug. Inside, his stomach squirmed. Partly out of fear of pathogens, partly out of fear of saying goodbye.

He took a calculated step forward, then another until he was close enough to wrap his arms (which he swore were too long for his body) around her figure, which he was also sure had changed drastically in the three months of summer. He rested his head on hers and inhaled the smell of strawberry shampoo for the last time until next summer.

When they broke apart, he swore he saw her wipe away a tear. He looked at the ground.

"I better go." He mumbled. Turning without another glance at her, he quickly walked to the car and closed himself in it. He didn't turn back until the end of the drive, where he turned in his seat and gave the smallest of waves that he wasn't sure she had seen.

__

Half of my heart is a shotgun wedding  
To a bride with a paper ring  
And half of my heart is the part of a man  
Who's never really loved anything

Half of my heart  
Half of my heart  
Half of my heart  
Half of my heart  
Half of my heart  
Half of my heart.

True to his word, when he wasn't working, he was writing her. Her favourite packages were those that included star maps, each one drawn three months apart so she could look at two and see how they had moved.

When the start of summer arrived, she eagerly sat at the gate all morning waiting for him to come home. Three weeks into summer she had to admit that he wasn't coming back.

A month later, she was kicking stones down the driveway and angrily mumbling under her breath after her father had refused to call her "Slugger" anymore- _who needs a training bra anyway?- _when the postal worker brought her an extra large package.

Inside was a letter, a new star chart, a small telescope, a new baseball and there, carefully encased in its own specially made cardboard box, a tiny ring, made out of perfectly woven pieces of paper.

She placed it on her finger and reached for the letter.

_Penny, _

_I apologise for the length of time between correspondence. I have been extremely busy with studies- so much so that they've moved me into graduate classes already, I may be graduating college in as little as two years. I've also received a letter from a prestigious college in Germany- they want me to be a guest lecturer when I graduate. It's a fantastic opportunity. _

_As I seem to be so busy with everything at the moment, I thought I would take the time to ask you to wear this ring I have made (it turns out that money is rather tight when you're a student, it's definitely not a myth, otherwise I would be giving you a real ring) with the promise that when science is no longer my everything in this world, that you could be my everything. _

_Never have I felt this way for anyone- or anything for that matter- that is not science. _

_I hope to write again soon. _

_Yours, _

_Sheldon. _

Penny smiled as she looked at the ring on her finger. _What a whack-a-doodle, _she thought.

When she moved in across the hall from them 14 years later, she knew it wasn't a coincidence, it was fate. When she saw how successful he had become, she knew she would have to be second best for a while longer. He wasn't ready and neither was she. But it wasn't easy.

Later, as Penny slammed the door in Sheldon's face as he yet again failed to grasp the real world, she found herself drawn to her bedroom. Flopping down on her bed, she eyed a small box at the bottom of her closet, partially covered by clothes.

As she dug it out and sat on the floor of the wardrobe, she pulled out the various items that reminded her of her childhood and placed them on the floor- her old tattered baseball, a telescope, a file of old star maps, her blue hat and a folded football jersey, her own Corn Queen's Court tiara and a couple of old school photos- right at the bottom, she spied the small handmade paper box. Inside, still in the one piece was the woven ring. Sliding it onto her smallest finger, she smiled.

She could wait. She had waited this long already.


End file.
